Andrew Novak claimed victory at the Mexico Open on Sunday! A final round 69 and a five-shot lead secured him his first individual PGA Tour title.
The 31-year-old American comfortably converted his overnight lead into a win. It went particularly well on the back nine at Vidanta Vallarta, where he rattled off three consecutive birdies. Novak – whose only previous PGA Tour triumph was at the 2025 Zurich Classic, playing in a team event with Ben Griffin – shattered the tournament record, finishing at 25-under-par with a total score of 259.
"It just feels really good to have this now," Novak said. "Sure, Zurich was great, I love that tournament – it's just so much fun. But an individual title, earned all by myself? That's a different caliber. I've been working for this for a long time."
Novak started the final day with a six-shot lead and began calmly: seven consecutive pars before his first birdie dropped on the 8th hole. However, he had a slight stumble around the turn: a missed four-foot putt on the 10th hole resulted in his first bogey since Friday. But he immediately stifled any hope for his pursuers by sinking three birdies in a row starting from the 12th hole. This included a 14-foot putt on the par-3 13th and then a monster 44-foot putt on the 14th green, which extended his lead over Doug Ghim back to five shots.
"The tenth was a mistake. I don't know, I was just too casual there, made three really bad swings. But then I came back, played three birdies in a row on 12, 13, and 14. That calmed everything down again," Novak commented on the situation. And when Ghim also carded a bogey on the 14th, Novak's lead grew to a commanding six shots. The American continued to play relaxed, securing pars on the 15th and 16th, before missing a short par putt on the 17th. His par on the 18th was enough to break the old tournament record of 24-under-par – not least thanks to his spectacular rounds of 61 and 62 on Friday and Saturday. "I'm just really happy with my game today. I think I pulled it off pretty well," said the beaming winner.
Steven Fisk and Norway's Kristoffer Ventura finished in a tie for 2nd place at 20-under-par with a score of 264. They were followed by Ben Griffin and Canada's Mackenzie Hughes with 265 strokes. Matthieu Pavon from France, who started Sunday in second place, dropped out of the top 10 after carding three bogeys on the back nine. His finish could have been even worse: thick rough on the 18th green narrowly prevented his ball from landing in the water. He then managed to save par. Doug Ghim, who had started Sunday in third place, ultimately had to settle for a tie for 6th place – a double bogey on the 18th sealed his fate.
