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After starting the final two rounds at what seemed like an improbable nine strokes back, Jason Kokrak rallied to go 9-under par over the weekend at the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open to capture his third career Tour title, holding off a litany of chargers including world No. 21 Scottie Scheffler, who came up short for the second straight week in his bid for his first PGA Tour victory.
“Contemplated actually withdrawing because I was hitting it so bad, but felt some nice things on the range and got it going in the pro-am and got off to a nice start,” said Kokrak, who came into Houston listed at +5000 via PointsBet Sportsbook, behind betting favorites Sam Burns at +1400 and Scheffler at +1800. Scheffler, who had a one-stroke lead heading into the final round, led the market after Saturday at +250 with Kokrak at +1200.
“I don’t know if I enjoy the situation, but I definitely, I’m comfortable in that situation,” added the 36-year-old when asked if finds motivation in being the underdog. “I guess you can call me an underdog, but the last couple years I’ve played some pretty solid golf, so I wouldn’t exactly say that I’d be the underdog going in.”
The Canadian-born Kokrak, an 11-year Tour veteran who grew up in Ohio and calls Cleveland home, came into the 2021-22 season off his career best season to date after finishing 11th in the FedExCup standings and playing in the Tour Championship for the second time. He earned his first Tour title last October at The CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek and followed it up seven months later with a win at the Charles Schwab Challenge, also in Texas.
After opening with a 2-under 68 at Memorial Park Golf Course, Kokrak got on a bit of a hot streak during the second round, making five birdies on the front, another on 10 and was 6-under through 11 holes when play was suspended due to darkness. But when play resumed Saturday morning, Kokrak’s touch seemed to be gone. He went 7-over on his final seven holes – including a double bogey at 13 and a triple at 18 – to finish with a 1-over 71, making the cut by two strokes.
“That second round, I was playing good, but delayed due to darkness, came out in the morning and it was freezing and really didn’t have my best stuff and really struggled through the first part of that day,” he said. “I’m very blessed to be standing right here as bad as I played in the middle of the (tournament) but made some putts and that’s what kept me in it.”
Among those putts were four straight birdies Sunday on Nos. 13-16, which opened a two-shot lead over the field. He carded a 5-under 65 to finish at 10-under 270, two shots ahead of Scheffler and Kevin Tway (68). Kokrak, who missed the cut at the Shriners Children’s Open in his first start of the season and notched an unremarkable T-54 at The CJ Cup @ Summit, said the win was particularly significant given how the tournament began.
“It’s really special,” he said, “because I was really struggling with my game at the beginning of this week and then I got on the phone with my swing coach, Drew Steckel, and I had my ear bud in, doing a little playing lesson while he’s in my ear and D-Rob (caddie David Robinson) is videoing and I owe a lot to D-Rob reading the greens and keeping me in it, keeping my head right, which is something that is very tough to do at times.”
For Dallas resident Scheffler, a member of the victorious 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup team, Houston seemed like a prime opportunity to secure his maiden title. After finishing solo fourth last week at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, the 25-year-old Texas alum started to make his move up the leaderboard during the second round, making nine birdies (one bogey) en route to setting the course record of 8-under 62.
A 69 on Saturday gave Sheffler a one-shot lead heading into the final round and marked his second career 54-hole lead. But an uneven 69 on Sunday – five birdies, four bogeys – left him one shy of Kokrak.
“I’ll take from this I felt like I played a lot of good golf this week without really my best stuff,” said Scheffler, whose T-2 is a new career best in a stroke-play event. “I really felt uncomfortable with my ball-striking going into the week, but I gave myself a chance to win here in the end, I put myself in position on Sunday. I’d say today I just probably didn’t make enough putts. Outside of that, I definitely played good enough to win.”
Tway made birdie on his 72nd hole to claim his best career Tour finish since his lone victory at the 2018 Fortinet Championship. Kramer Hickok recorded a birdie-birdie finish for a final-round 69 to grab solo fourth at 7 under, while Joel Dahmen (65) and Martin Trainer (70) rounded out the top five at 6 under.
The finish signaled a breakthrough for Trainer, whose lone Tour victory came at the 2019 Puerto Rico Open. The 30-year-old California native and USC alum was among five players tied for the 18-hole lead following a 5-under 65, which marked his first time holding a lead or co-lead after any round on Tour. A second straight 65 gave him a one-stroke lead heading into weekend action – just his 10th made cut in 71 starts since his 2019 win – but a 4-over 74 on Saturday seemingly derailed his chase for a second title.
Trainer managed to move back atop the leaderboard Sunday, briefly holding the lead again before three bogeys over his final five holes left him even on the day and four strokes behind Kokrak.
With the win, Kokrak earned 500 FedExCup points and moves to No. 7 in the FEC standings, and he’s expected to move inside the top 25 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
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Burns, Wolff keep momentum rolling in Houston
Looking to become the first multiple winner of the 2021-22 season, Sanderson Farms Championship winner Sam Burns closed with a 3-under 67 in his third consecutive Houston Open start to finish T-7 at 5 under. Burns, who missed the cut in 2019 and finished T-7 last season, recorded his fourth straight top-15 finish in as many starts.
Making his first start in Houston and fourth of the new season, Matthew Wolff made an ace at the par-3 ninth hole Sunday from 187 yards out for his first career hole-in-one on Tour. He carded a 2-over 72 to finish T-11 for his fourth straight top-20 finish. He finished T-17 at the Sanderson Farms followed by a T-2 at the Shriners and T-5 last week at the Mayakoba.
Up next: The RSM Classic
The PGA Tour wraps its fall season this coming week at Sea Island Resort in St. Simons Island, Ga., at The RSM Classic. Robert Streb, coming a off a T-7 finish at the Houston Open, will chase a hat trick of sorts at The RSM, where he’ll defend his 2021 title and seek a third career title at Sea Island.
Streb is joined by five previous RSM champions (Tyler Duncan, Charles Howell III, Austin Cook, Mackenzie Hughes) and multiple major winners including Adam Scott (making his tournament debut), Louis Oosthuizen, Jason Day, Jimmy Walker and Webb Simpson, who lost in a playoff at Sea Island in 2019. Sea Island is home for several players in the field including 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup player Harris English, Patton Kizzire, J.T. Poston, Keith Mitchell, Hudson Swafford and Greyson Sigg. Tournament host Davis Love III, the 2022 U.S. Presidents Cup team captain, is in the field again this year after sitting out last season due to a neck injury.
Last time at Sea Island, Streb ended a six-year win drought with a playoff victory over 2016 RSM champ Kevin Kisner at the same place where he earned his maiden victory in 2015.
The 34-year-old Streb, who held the 36- and 54-hole leads, fired a 2-under 68 in the final round and ended regulation tied at 19-under 263 with Kisner following his blistering bogey-free 63 on Sunday. Streb, currently No. 130 in the world rankings, beat Kisner with a birdie on the second hole of sudden death.
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