By PAUL J. WEBER By PAUL J. WEBER ADVERTISING AP Sports Writer SAN ANTONIO — Six years later, Ben Curtis is a PGA Tour champion again. His victory Sunday in the Texas Open didn’t come easy. Neither did his words
By PAUL J. WEBER
AP Sports Writer
SAN ANTONIO — Six years later, Ben Curtis is a PGA Tour champion again.
His victory Sunday in the Texas Open didn’t come easy. Neither did his words describing the redemption of nearly a decade spent falling from British Open champion to, this year, waiting by the phone simply for a chance to play.
His voice quivered, and his eyes welled up.
“It’s been a tough couple years just fighting through it,” Curtis said.
Holding off Matt Every and John Huh in a tense back-nine finish, Curtis finished with flourish by holing a 12-footer for birdie on the par-5 18th, sealing a two-stroke victory and his fourth PGA Tour title. His even-par 72 put him at 9 under and triggered a wave of emotions that Curtis said he didn’t know were in him.
Curtis won $1,116,000 and a two-year tour exemption — a more meaningful reward after being relegated to a status so low that this victory came in just the fourth PGA Tour event he managed to get into this year.
“You think you’re just staying positive and not worried about it, but I think deep down, you realize all the hard work you put in that, you know, finally paid off,” Curtis said.
It was 2003 when Curtis kissed the Claret Jug at Royal St. George’s with a square jawline and closely cropped black hair. This time, he was handed a pair of cowboy boots, smiling with a rounder face and a better appreciation of the journey.
“When you come out here and win one, well, if I win one every year I have a great career. That would be true,” Curtis said. “But, you know, to get to three, four, five wins — you’re a solid player. I just feel like you get yourself into contention and just have that belief, and anything can happen.”
Every had a 71 and lost a chance at his first tour win with a shaky putter. Huh roared back with a 69, but the Mayakoba Classic winner fell just short of completing what would have been a remarkable comeback.
Huh nearly withdrew Thursday when he plunged to 5 over through only his first three holes and finished with a 77. But he rebounded with rounds of 68 and 67 to give Curtis and Every another player to worry about Sunday.
Defending champion Brendan Steele, a distant afterthought for three rounds, made himself known again at TPC San Antonio with a bogey-free 67 to finish an impressive weekend climb from 56th. He tied for fourth with Bob Estes (69), Brian Gay (70), and Charlie Wi (71) at 5 under.
LEGENDS OF GOLF
SAVANNAH, Ga. — David Frost and Michael Allen won the Champions Tour’s Legends of Golf, shooting a 10-under 62 for a one-stroke victory over John Cook and Joey Sindelar in the better-ball event.
Front and Allen, coming off a victory last week at TPC Tampa Bay, finished at 29-under 187 at The Club at Savannah Harbor. Cook and Sindelar, former Ohio State teammates, closed with a 61.
Andy Bean and Chien Soon Lu (62), Jeff Sluman and Brad Faxon (63), and Tom Purtzer and Brad Bryant (64) tied for third at 27 under.
CHINA OPEN
TIANJIN, China — Branden Grace won the China Open for his third European Tour victory of the year, closing with a 3-under 69 to hold off 2011 winner Nicolas Colsaerts by three strokes.
The 23-year-old Grace, from South Africa, finished at 21-under 267 at Binhai Lake. He won the Joburg Open and Volvo Champions in consecutive weeks in South Africa in January.
Colsaerts, the winner last year at Luxehills, also shot a 69.
The event also was sanctioned by the OneAsia Tour and China Golf Association.
INDONESIAN MASTERS
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Third-ranked Lee Westwood successfully defended his Indonesian Masters title, shooting a 2-over 74 for a two-stroke victory over Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant.
Westwood played 32 holes Sunday, finishing off a 65 in the rain-delayed third round. He had a 16-under 272 total at Royale Jakarta. Thaworn finished with a 67 in the Asian Tour event.
