Andrew Landry won the Valero Texas Open on Sunday for his first PGA Tour victory, pulling away with early birdies and holding on with par saves.
The 30-year-old Texan, busy at home in Austin with the recent birth of the family’s first child, parred the final seven holes for a four-under 68 and a two-stroke victory over Trey Mullinax and Sean O’Hair.
‘It was obviously a tough week this week,’ Landry said. ‘Going into the last few weeks with the childbirth and just really getting back out.’
Landry played at Arkansas after starring at Port Neches-Groves High School east of Houston. Many family members were at TPC San Antonio on Sunday.
‘Everybody was out,’ Landry said. ‘It was pretty special to be able to snag a victory with everybody being here to share it.’
Landry finished at 17-under 271. He earned $1,116,000 and a spot in the Masters next year.
‘I didn’t even really think about it, to be honest with you,’ Landry said. ‘There’s a lot of perks for a tour win and you’ve just got to continue to stay focused and not think about those kind of things.’
Landry took a two-stroke lead to the par-five 18th after Mullinax chunked a flop shot and bogeyed the short par-four 17th. Landry hit a 55-foot putt over a ridge to three feet for par on the 17th and made an eight-footer on the 18th after running a 50-foot downhill birdie try past.
Mullinax closed with a 69 a day after breaking the AT&T Oaks Course record with a 62.
‘Just a lot of confidence. I know my game’s there, I’m playing really well,’ Mullinax said. ‘Give all credit to Andrew. He played really well today, rock steady. He was putting great, hitting great shots.’
Tied for the third-round lead with Zach Johnson, Landry birdied the first three holes and added two more on the 6th and 10th. He bogeyed the par-four 11th before the closing par run.
‘Made a couple putts and, unfortunately, Zach and Trey kind of had some hiccups there on the front nine and they didn’t play it as well as I did,’ Landry said. ‘I think that that was really, really key to getting to where I am right now.’
‘It helps because you get yourself in that situation and you continue to learn,’ Landry said. ‘Losing in that playoff when I was continuing to hit good shot after good shot, just not making any putts. Normally that’s a strength of my game. Now here we are, a winner.’
Jimmy Walker was fourth at 14 under after his second round 67.
Credit: PGA TOUR
