SAN ANTONIO – Brian Herman dealt with the wind and cold with a key birdie on Back Nine Sunday at the Valero Texas Open, closing out in a 3-over 75 with a three-shot victory.
Herman began the final round with a three-shot lead and soon became a close fight with Andrew Novak. Andrew Novak went to his first victory on the PGA Tour and Masters spot.
Herman never lost the lead, but fell to one shot with a double bogey on No. 6 and hole 9, but had to get a penalty drop after a pulled tee shot, but still only managed to advance to the fairway.
However, he drilled a 15-foot birdie putt on hole 12 to give room for breath, then fell up and down from the par-5 14th bunker, causing his lead to return to three shots.
He followed it with a pair of bogeys, but at the end he left a mistake in Novak.
“We are very proud of how we handled these terms,” Herman said. “This golf course was happy to come out, giving me everything I wanted today.”
Novak played two shots in two shots, with a bad chip in 17th and a par 5 18th place on a bad drive. He shot a 76 and fell into the tie third with Maverick McNerry (72).
Ryan Gerald made his only bogey on the final hole to finish off the runner-up at 69. This was one of only seven rounds at face value at TPC San Antonio.
Herman still had two holes, especially under pressure coming out of consecutive bogeys. His tee shot bounced back through the bunker into rough stuff, and he pitched about 12 feet for a stress-free par.
Novak drove green but the pitch on his shelf hit the slope and returned to his feet. His birdie tip ran 6 feet and he missed the putt and was delayed three times.
On the 18th, Novak pulled a tee shot in a barren area of wood and scrub brushes. He returned to the fairway, attempting to reach the greenery, and entered the stream narrowly. He had to stand on the boulder to play on the greenery and he missed a 10-foot putt.
Patrick Fishburne was part of the fifth-linked large group with an Eagle Bydi finish of 68. Eagle came to hole 17. There, Fishburne drilled a 105-foot putt. It was the longest putt I’ve made on the PGA Tour since 2008.
Herman has struggled since his big breakthrough at Whalek and has been on the verge of falling out of the top 50. Now he heads to the Masters with a much needed victory.
Besides the difficult conditions, his heart was Cathy Dowdy, a close family friend. She spent her family on vacation in coma after helping her family rescue Herman’s 6-year-old son from the RIP stream in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida last October.
“I’m just playing with a heavy heart today. Kathy, she’s not going that well,” Herman said. “I’m just thinking about her all day.”
The conditions were so difficult that four players, including Tommy Fleetwood, were unable to beat the 80, and the course averaged a score of 74.8.