Jason Kokrak finishes hot, wins Houston Open by 2

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[November 16, 2021] Jason Kokrak strung together four straight birdies on the back nine to record a 5-under 65 on Sunday and win the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open

 


Kokrak, who began the final round two shots behind 54-hole leader Scottie Scheffler, shot 66-65 on the weekend to finish at 10-under 270 at the Memorial Park Golf Course. It was the third victory on the PGA Tour for the Canadian, whose last win was the 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge.

"It feels good to finish off the way I did," Kokrak said. "I drove it better than I have the last couple of months, but the putter was the great equalizer."

Kokrak got hot with the putter on the difficult back nine. He made a 13-footer for birdie at No. 13, a 23-footer at No. 14, a 3-footer after a nice wedge shot at No. 15 and a 3-footer at No. 16. He parred the final two holes, tapping in for a par on the 18th.

Kokrak was 9 under over his final 27 holes after starting the weekend at 1 under par.

"I think I got more comfortable over the ball," Kokrak said. "I was working on my approaches on Tuesday and I had some good swings. Something just clicked. ... I played some of my best golf on the back nine."

Houston resident Kevin Tway rolled in a birdie on the 72nd hole to shoot 68 and tied for second with Scheffler at 8-under 272.

Scheffler, who shot a course-record 62 on the second day, took himself out of contention with three bogeys over the first five holes on the back nine and finished with a 69.

Kramer Hickok shot 69 to finish fourth at 7-under 273. Martin Trainer, who held a share of the lead after the first and second rounds, shot 70 and Joel Dahmen shot 65 to tie for fifth at 274.

"I stayed patient all day," Kokrak said. "On this golf course, if you get in the right position you can be aggressive. If you hit greens and make putts you can make up a lot of ground."

--Field Level Media

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