J.J. Spaun captured his third PGA Tour victory—and second at the Valero Texas Open—finishing at 17-under par at TPC San Antonio. He sealed the win on the par-4 17th with an eagle from a clutch Titleist GT3 driver tee shot that rolled out to 10 feet, then parred the tough 18th. Spaun navigated a marathon final day in windy, cold, and wet conditions, playing his last 27 holes in 9-under par to earn $1.764 million from the $9.8 million purse.
Trailing by one entering the 71st hole (par-4 17th) of the tournament, Spaun opted for an aggressive 90-percent driver shot, which landed short of the green and rolled out to 10 feet, setting up the go-ahead eagle putt. He held on with a par on the par-5 18th for the victory. The shot echoed a pivotal drive he hit on the same hole at Oakmont during last year's U.S. Open, where he drove the green for birdie while tied for the lead.
Robert MacIntyre and Ludvig Åberg led entering Sunday, but Matt Wallace finished at 16-under with a final-round 68, while Michael Kim, MacIntyre, and Andrew Putnam tied for second at 16-under, each earning $741,533.
Spaun ranked second in Strokes Gained: Approach (6.7 shots gained) and 16th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee for the week (1.362 in the final round alone, including 1.08 on the 17th tee shot). His bag featured Srixon ZXi irons with custom lengths and lies, TaylorMade Qi10 woods, Titleist GT3 driver (B1 setting at 9 degrees loft, flatter lie, SureFit CG track in T1 for right bias, Fujikura Ventus Black 6-X shaft with VeloCore+—boosting his off-the-tee ranking from 146th to 41st last season), and a new L.A.B. Golf DF3 putter.
"I knew I was one back of the lead. I wanted to be aggressive and take driver," Spaun said. On the putter: "I switched to L.A.B. and had an amazing season, including a U.S. Open win. I love working with the L.A.B. guys."
