GOLF WEEKLY
Ben Curtis finally ends long drought
Ben Curtis won the Texas Open on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title since 2006, holding off Matt Every and John Huh in a tense back-nine finish for a two-stroke victory.
Curtis birdied the par-5 18th for an even-par 72 and 9-under total. It was a redeeming and emotional win for the 2003 British Open winner who had only limited tour status after a long slump.
“It’s been a tough couple years just fighting through it,” Curtis said.
He has four PGA Tour titles, also winning the 2006 Booz Allen Classic and 84 Lumber Classic.
Every had a 71 and lost a chance at his first tour win with four blown putts. Huh roared back with a 69, but the Mayakoba Classic winner fell just short.
Curtis won $1,116,000 and a twoyear tour exemption — a more meaningful reward after being relegated to a status so low that this victory came in just the fourth PGA Tour event he managed to get into this year.
“You think you’re just staying positive and not worried about it, but I think deep down, you realize all the hard work you put in that, you know, finally paid off,” Curtis said.
Meanwhile, on the Champions Tour, David Frost and Michael Allen won the Legends of Golf, shooting a 10-under 62 for a one-stroke victory over John Cook and Joey Sindelar in the better-ball event.
Front and Allen, coming off a victory last week at TPC Tampa Bay, finished at 29-under 187 at The Club at Savannah Harbor. Cook and Sindelar, former Ohio State teammates, closed with a 61.
In European PGA Tour action, Branden Grace won the China Open for his third Tour victory of the year, closing with a 3-under 69 to hold off 2011 winner Nicolas Colsaerts by three strokes.
The 23-year-old Grace, from South Africa, finished at 21-under 267 at Binhai Lake. He won the Joburg Open and Volvo Champions in consecutive weeks in South Africa in January.
Colsaerts, the winner last year at Luxehills, also shot a 69.
Third-ranked Lee Westwood successfully defended his Indonesian Masters title, shooting a 2-over 74 for a two-stroke victory over Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant.
Westwood played 32 holes Sunday, finishing off a 65 in the rain-delayed third round. He had a 16-under 272 total at Royale Jakarta. Thaworn finished with a 67 in the Asian Tour event.