J.J. Spaun survives wild-weather weekend to win Valero Texas Open

J.J. Spaun won his second Texas Open by one stroke. His 2022 victory secured his first Masters invitation. Dylan Buell / Getty Images Share full articleRain jackets, not green jackets, were the order of the day at the Valero Texas Open, where defending U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun won a battle with the elements to notch a one-stroke win at the last PGA Tour event before the Masters. Spaun followed his birdie on the 16th hole with a huge drive on the par-4 17th and holed an eagle putt to seal the one-stroke win over a trio of pursuers. Spaun finished with a 17-under-par 271. Robert MacIntyre’s 15 under led the field when third-round play resumed Sunday, but the Scotsman recorded only one birdie through the first 14 holes of the final round, before mounting a late charge with a birdie on 15 and matching Spaun’s eagle on 17. He settled for par on the final hole, however, to finish a stroke below Spaun. England’s Matt Wallace and American Michael Kim also finished a shot behind Spaun at 16-under 272. The Texas Open isn’t the brightest star in the PGA’s tournament constellation, but it dangles an exquisite prize for its winner: the last spot in the Masters Tournament for a player who has not yet qualified. Spaun’s invitation was already securely in hand. But for Wallace and American Andrew Putnam, who each had turns atop the leaderboard, missing their chance at a first-ever Masters made Sunday’s wind and cold rain even more bitter. It was the second Texas Open win for Spaun. His 2022 victory clinched his first Masters invitation. “It means a lot to come back and win here at a place that’s been so great to me,” Spaun told NBC. Spaun said he’s trying to dial down the pressure he had put on himself this year in the wake of his breakthrough victory at last year’s U.S. Open. “There’s just so much that comes with winning big events like that, like a U.S. Open or any other major,” Spaun said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself this year to start the year, and a lot of expectations. It’s the complete opposite of the mantra I had all year last year that really helped me, so I tried to get back to that.” Persistent rains at the TPC San Antonio course on Saturday wreaked havoc with the event, turning the final weekend of the tournament into a marathon of mud and moisture for the field of 70 golfers who survived Friday’s cut. Tournament officials halted play at about noon Saturday as they attempted to wait out the rain, then suspended the round for the day shortly before 5 p.m. No one played more than 14 holes on Saturday, and players had to complete their third rounds on Sunday, with some facing a 30-hole grind to finish the tournament. The shifting weather conditions and the third-round holes that had to be contested Sunday kept things congested atop the leaderboard as seven different players had a share of first place at some point during the day. Three of the last six Texas Open winners qualified for the Masters Tournament with a victory: Corey Conners in 2019, Spaun in 2022 and Akshay Bhatia in 2024. American Tony Finau finished the tournament in a tie for 49th place with a 4-under 284, and saw his streak of 33 consecutive majors come to an end. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Curt Anderson is a staff editor on the Daily Desk for The Athletic. Before joining The Athletic, he spent more than a decade at The Washington Post as a National Homepage Editor. He was the last news editor of the Rocky Mountain News prior to its closure. Anderson grew up in Marshall, Minn., and was a Kiplinger Fellow in Public Affairs Reporting at The Ohio State University, where he earned a master’s degree in journalism. Follow Curt on Twitter @CurtAndersonDC