Mexico’s Ortiz edges Meronk for LIV Golf Houston win

Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz nabbed his first LIV Golf victory on Sunday, firing a five-under par 67 to eat Adrian Meronk by one stroke in Houston, Texas.

Ortiz finished the 54-hole event with a 54-hole total of 15-under 201, celebrating in the same city where he won his lone US PGA Tour title in 2020.

Ortiz and Poland’s Meronk were part of a four-way tie for the lead heading into Sunday’s final round along with England’s Paul Casey and Spain’s David Puig.

Ortiz and Meronk were still tied with four to play at Golf Club of Houston, but Ortiz seized control with a birdie at the par-five 15th, where Meronk made bogey.

Meronk’s four-under round gave him solo second on 14-under and helped his Cleeks GC claim the team title.

Puig shot three-under to finish tied for third with former Masters champion Patrick Reed while Casey fell off the pace with a one-over final round.

The tournament gave LIV golfers a final tuneup before the US Open next week at Pinehurst in North Carolina.

Brooks Koepka, whose five major titles include back-to-back US Open titles in 2017 and 2018, finished tied for ninth.

Former US Open champion Jon Rahm of Spain withdrew from the event during the second round on Saturday because of an infection in his left foot.

Rahm, who won his first major at the 2021 US Open and won the Masters last year, had played six holes on Saturday when he decided to call it quits, perhaps in hopes of being better prepared for the third major of the year.

The former world number one, now ranked seventh, has struggled in this year’s majors, finishing tied for 44th at the Masters and missing the cut at the PGA Championship last month.

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AFP

(NAMPA / AFP)