Brian Harman knew he’d need his best on Sunday at the Valero Texas Open to hold off Andrew Novak, who needed a win to punch his Masters ticket, in the blustery conditions at TPC San Antonio.
The 2023 Open Champion didn’t bring his best stuff, but it was good enough to keep Novak from overtaking him and making last-second plans for the year’s first major.
As the winds whipped at the Oak Course at TPC San Antonion, Harman opened the door on the front nine. He made bogey No. 4 and No. 6 before stepping on a rake with a double bogey at the ninth. He went out in 39, and by the time he made the turn, his lead was down to one over Novak and two over a hard-charging Ryan Gerard, who also needed a win to get to Augusta National.
But just when it looked like the brutal Texas conditions would get the best of him, Harman steadied himself with pars at 10 and 11. He poured in a 15-foot birdie putt at 12 to push the lead to two. A bogey back Novak at the 13th made it a three-shot deficit over Novak and five over Gerard, who finished at six under. Harman and Novak exchanged birdies at No. 14, and both bogeyed 15 to keep the difference at three. Another bogey by Harman at No. 16 cut the spread to two, giving Novak one last shot at his first career PGA Tour win and a trip to Augusta.
But Novak couldn’t take advantage of Harman’s stumbles. The 30-year-old pro made a sloppy bogey at No. 17 and made a mess of the finishing hole to give Harman a stress-free walk to his fourth PGA Tour win and first since the 2023 Open Championship. Harman took the 36-hole lead on the strength of his iron play, but the lefty had to lean heavily on his short game during a windy weekend. Per golf stats guru Justin Ray, Harman became the first player since Jason Day at the 2010 Byron Nelson to hit 17 or fewer greens in regulation on the weekend and win.
“Just having a little bit of experience and knowing that score was kind of a relative thing today, it was more kind of a game of attrition,” Harman said after the win of the tough weekend. “The conditions just wouldn’t allow for a super low score. I didn’t have my best stuff today, but good enough to make a few putts, and a couple birdies on the back nine helped a lot.”
Harman’s Sunday 75 was the highest final-round score by a winner on the PGA Tour since Jon Rahm won the 2020 Memorial Tournament.
On a difficult weekend, with challengers trying to hunt him down, Harman found a way to grind out a win and head to Augusta with needed momentum. The key was staying in the moment and not getting ahead of himself as he headed toward the finish line.
“I’ve had to learn that lesson the hard way with a bunch of failures across my career where you look back at a tournament, like gosh, if I could have just kept my cool for a little bit longer, if I could have just hung in there for a little bit longer, maybe I could have made a run,” Harman said. “So I just tried really hard today to not let my emotions get out in front. As much as I wanted to think about winning and holding the trophy and calling my wife and telling her how happy I was, you don’t get to do that until the job’s done. Just left foot, right foot, finish the job and then you get to have fun.”
Novak, who finished runner-up in Bermuda during the fall and was in the final group at the Farmers Insurance Open, leaves San Antonio still in search of his first PGA Tour win. He admitted to fighting his swing Sunday and being unable to figure out the greens at TPC San Antonio. Unfortunately for Novak, his stumbles down the stretch didn’t just cost him a chance to head to Augusta National. Those final two bogeys dropped him from solo second to a tie for third, which knocked him out of the Aon Swing 5 and Aon Next 10 projections for the RBC Heritage.
“I played well,” Novak said after the round. “I was in the final group again, had a chance coming down the stretch yet again. I just didn’t execute. It’s a really good finish.”
As for Gerard, the 25-year-old played his way to the top of the Aon Swing 5. After a year spent grinding on the Korn Ferry Tour to regain his card, Gerard now believes he’s in a better spot to ascend on the PGA Tour and hopes back-to-back top-10 finishes in Texas are a sign of what’s to come.
“It taught me a lot,” Gerard said of his time on the KFT last season. “There’s a lot of really good players out there and not all of them play on the PGA TOUR. There’s a lot that play on the Korn Ferry and there’s a lot that play even on levels below that. I didn’t have the right attitude at the beginning of the year last year. I was kind of upset at myself. I felt like I was kind of doing myself a disservice by going back down there. Had to really kind of shift the mindset and go earn it. You know, once I did that, everything kind of started clicking a little bit more. But it is a lot sweeter when you earn it. I kind of lucked into it the first time and the second time I earned it. I think I’m more prepared to be back here and I’m better suited for it now.”
As for Harman, he will turn his attention to Augusta National with some pep in his step. He knows that at 38, it’s unclear how many more cracks at the green jacket he’ll get. He must make the most of the opportunities he has left at golf’s hallowed grounds.
“Just knowing that there’s some good golf left in there,” Harman said when asked how much the win at Valero helps him heading into next week. “You know, I’m 38, I’m not 25 anymore. I know that I’m getting, you know, a little grayer, so you start looking at like, man, how many more chances do I have at Augusta, how many more chances do I have at a U.S. Open, and all the things that you want to do. Just knowing I can come out here in tough conditions and play well as an older veteran on Tour makes me feel good about next week.”
