Hunter Mahan wins Houston Open

Hunter Mahan won the final PGA Tour event prior to this week's Masters by holding off Sweden's Carl Pettersson to land the Houston Open by a single stroke.

The American's victory moved him up to number four in the world rankings after he held his nerve on the difficult 18th to claim his second victory of the season.

"I'm playing good," the 29-year-old said. "I'm glad I'm going to Augusta - it's really a special place. "I feel great. I had the lead for most of the back nine and hit some clutch shots."

Overnight leader Louis Oosthuizen finished third after an uncharacteristic poor final day that saw him drop five shots before the turn, including double bogeys at the 5th and 8th.

Elsewhere, England's Brian Davis finished tied in fourth spot on 13-under-par and the Londoner's search for a first PGA Tour victory goes on.

Scoring wasn't so low on the final day at Redstone and in the end Mahan's 71 was good enough for the win. His card including two birdies, one bogey and the rest pars, and the 29-year-old will now go into the Masters as the highest ranked American in the field.

"I feel very capable of playing great golf, and I feel like I showed myself I don't have to be perfect to win," added Mahan, who played one of the shots of the day into 18 with a 203-yard approach to set up a comfortable par.

Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson showed some positive signs ahead of the Masters finishing on 12-under-par alongside compatriots Keegan Bradley and Jeff Overton.  

Shell Houston Open final leaderboard Redstone GC Tournament Course, Humble, Texas Mar 29-Apr 1, purse $6,000,000, par72

1 Hunter Mahan (USA) 69 67 65 71 $1,080,000 2 Carl Pettersson (SWE) 65 70 67 71 $648,000 3 Louis Oosthuizen (SAF) 67 66 66 75 $408,000 T4 Keegan Bradley (USA) 67 69 69 71 $236,250 T4 Brian Davis (ENG) 68 65 69 74 $236,250 T4 Phil Mickelson (USA) 65 70 70 71 $236,250 T4 Jeff Overton (USA) 69 70 69 68 $236,250 T8 Bud Cauley (USA) 67 69 73 68 $168,000 T8 James Driscoll (USA) 67 66 71 73 $168,000 T8 J.B. Holmes (USA) 68 67 71 71 $168,000 T8 Cameron Tringale (USA) 69 70 70 68 $168,000 T12 Ernie Els (SAF) 70 69 69 70 $132,000 T12 Pat Perez (USA) 68 69 71 70 $132,000 T14 Jim Herman (USA) 68 70 73 68 $105,000 T14 John Huh (USA) 66 70 70 73 $105,000 T14 Greg Owen (ENG) 66 69 76 68 $105,000 T14 Boo Weekley (USA) 69 67 70 73 $105,000

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

See also

Thorbjørn Olesen wins Sicilian Open