“About time.”
Those words came from Charley Hoffman on Sunday at the Valero Texas Open and it was about time and this time Hoffman closed the deal.
Standing over a slippery nine-foot downhill left-to-right putt at the 72nd hole, Hoffman calmly rolled in the winning birdie putt and let loose a huge fist pump and leg kick as he edged Patrick Reed by a shot at the TPC San Antonio.
“Nice to make that putt, that’s for sure,” said Hoffman, who shot 69 and was 12-under par at the difficult layout. “Being in contention so many times…..”
That winning birdie put an end to the Sunday blahs that have plagued Hoffman the past six weeks. He’s been in contention more than not and his game betrayed him during too many final rounds. That was not the case this time.
Reed forced Hoffman to birdie the par five 18th. Reed will kick himself after this as he missed a birdie putt at the 16th from six feet then missed another from five feet at the 17th. At 18 he hit a great second shot that had to hook at least 30 yards. It barely missed the hazard short of the green but ended up on the green against the fringe. He hit a great pitch shot to a foot for a tap-in birdie and a closing 69 to finish alone in second at 11 under.
Hoffman’s second to the 18th went long left into the back bunker and he didn’t have much green to work with. He produced a shot that was good enough to give him a chance and he made the most of it.
Chad Collins shot 69 and finished solo third at 10-under.
Overnight leader Ricky Barnes was part of the final threesome that put up perhaps the worst overall performance by a lead group this season. Barnes closed with 74, as did Luke Donald while Brendan Steele shot 75.
