Houston Open: winners and losers from Memorial Park

Find out who the winners and losers were from this week’s Houston Open, including Hideki Matsuyama, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson.

Each week on the PGA Tour, there are players who have good weeks and those who have bad weeks. Here at ProGolfNow, we call them winners and losers. Here are this week’s winners and losers from the Houston Open.

Winners

Carlos Ortiz – Down the stretch, Ortiz stared down some of the world’s best players to earn his first PGA Tour win in his 118th start. Ortiz was one of only three players (Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka were the others) to shoot four rounds in the 60s this week. It was a life-changing week for the 29-year-old native of Mexico.

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Hideki Matsuyama – The week started slowly for Matsuyama, who shot even par on each of the first two days. But he rallied for a 66 on Saturday, then shot a sizzling 63 on Sunday to briefly tie for the lead. He ended up in a tie for second place, but this was a good week for Matsuyama, especially with the Masters on the immediate horizon.

Brooks Koepka – Until this week, the status of Koepka’s game, and his body, were in question. He answered those questions with consecutive 65s over the weekend. He rose into the top 10, ultimately finishing in a tie for fifth. Koepka appears ready for next week’s Masters.

Dustin Johnson – After missing some time with a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, DJ showed that he’s back on his game. After opening with a 72 on Thursday, Johnson shot 66-66-65 to finish in a tie for second this week. He’ll be among the favorites at the Masters this week.

Talor Gooch – Quietly, Gooch snuck his way into fourth place this week. He shot 68-69-71-63 for the week and will long wonder what a better Saturday round might have done for him. Still, it’s a top-five finish for the 28-year-old Gooch in a field full of quality players.

Losers

Phil Mickelson – Lefty planned to use this event to fine-tune his game ahead of the Masters next week. Instead, he shot 76-73 and that 73 was aided by a hole-out from nearly 200 yards on his final hole of the round. Mickelson also took an eight on a par three. The result could not have been what he was hoping for this week.

Jordan Spieth – It’s the same old problem for Spieth. He plays well for 14, 15 or 16 holes in a round, but the other holes do him in. He did exactly that this week. But he still had a chance to make the cut before a bogey on his final hole on Friday left him outside the cutline.

Sergio Garcia – Another former Masters champion who had a bad week in Houston. Sergio shot 74 on Thursday and 71 on Friday to miss the cut this week. Like the two players above, this was not the Masters prep that Garcia wanted.

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Adam Scott – Yet another former Masters champion who had a disappointing week, although Scott’s was a bit different. He played well the first two days and made the cut with a 68-69 start. But a 74 on Saturday derailed his chances this week.

Charl Schwartzel – The fifth former Masters champion on this list, Schwartzel had an interesting weekend. He was forced to come back on Saturday morning to finish his second round. He needed three shots to finish, took a bogey on the ninth hole and missed the cut. An odd weekend for Schwartzel as he heads to Augusta.

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