Long putts give Ortiz first PGA Tour win

HOUSTON — Carlos Ortiz never doubted he could win any tournament no matter who he was facing, even if he didn’t have the trophies or the pedigree to prove it. Now he does.

Ortiz holed two long birdie putts from off the green to take the lead Sunday, then was rock solid down the stretch and delivered the winning shots for a 5-under 65 and a two-shot victory in the Houston Open.

Ortiz played the final round alongside a former No. 1 player in Jason Day. He spent the back nine locked in a battle with the current No. 1, Dustin Johnson.

He pulled ahead for good with a 6-iron so good the 29-year-old Mexican started walking after it on the par-5 16th. Ortiz had to settle for a two-putt birdie from 8 feet and he finished in style with a 20-foot birdie for a twoshot victory over Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama.

“I wasn’t really thinking about the other guys. I wasn’t worried,” Ortiz said. “I knew if I played good I was going to be hard to beat. … I knew I was capable of doing that because I know myself, but, obviously, validating that and then showing it, it definitely gets me more confidence.

“I’m just happy the way it played out.”

Ortiz, a three-time winner on what was then the Web. com Tour in 2014, became the first Mexican player to win on the PGA Tour since Victor Regalado in 1978 at the Quad Cities Open.

Ortiz, who finished with a total of 13-under 267, held back tears as he waited for his playing partners to putt. The victory sends him to the 2021 Masters, which will return to its April stage. He was at Augusta National Golf Club a year ago to watch his brother, Alvaro, who qualified by winning the Latin American Amateur.

“It feels awesome,” said Ortiz, who grew up in Guadalajara and played in college at North Texas with Sebastian Munoz of Colombia, the most recent Latin American winner on tour. “This is like my second home. There was a bunch of people cheering for me, Latinos and Texans. I’m thankful for all of them.”

It was the loudest cheer for a winner since March. The Houston Open was the first domestic PGA Tour event that allowed spectators during the pandemic, with 2,000 tickets sold daily.