MacIntyre Falls Short at Texas Open as Spaun Claims Victory

JJ Spaun drove the green on the 306-yard par-4 17th at TPC San Antonio, rolled in the 10-footer for eagle, and posted 17-under 271 before retreating to the range to wait out the finish. About an hour later, Robert MacIntyre hooked his second shot on the 609-yard 18th into thick mud near a concession area and failed to make birdie, handing Spaun a one-shot victory at the Valero Texas Open and his third PGA Tour title.

The win carries weight far beyond San Antonio. Spaun entered the week ranked No. 13 in the world but had made the cut in just three of his seven starts this season, with no top-20 finish since claiming the U.S. Open last June. Sunday's 5-under 67 adds 500 FedExCup points and $1,764,000 from a record $9.8 million purse, reshaping his position in the season-long race with only the sport's most consequential stretch ahead: the Masters at Augusta National opens Thursday, the PGA Championship at Aronimink follows in May. Spaun is already exempt at Augusta through 2030 on the strength of his U.S. Open title, meaning the Masters field stays at 91, but he arrives there with restored momentum and the psychological edge of knowing how to close.

The route to victory ran through a tournament almost undone by the weather. Storms halted third-round play for five hours Saturday, with no player completing more than 14 holes before officials called it for the night. Tour officials kept players in their third-round groupings for Sunday's final round to compress the schedule, a decision that left some competitors facing the equivalent of 30 holes in a single day under persistent rain and cold. The setup created a fractured competitive environment: Spaun, in an earlier group, completed his third round Sunday morning with a back-nine 32, turned around quickly, and built from there while MacIntyre's final group was still finishing off their Saturday work.

MacIntyre had been the tournament's dominant figure. He birdied four of his final five holes in round two to open a four-shot lead over Ludvig Åberg, and came into the final round one shot clear after navigating an even-par finish to a compressed third round. The Scot birdied the 15th in the final round to draw to within two of Spaun, then bogeyed the 16th to fall back to 14-under with three to play, a swing that briefly seemed to settle the outcome.

Then the 17th provided its own drama. MacIntyre, three shots off the lead playing the par-4, holed a putt just outside 15 feet for eagle, cutting the gap to one and putting pressure on Spaun's already-posted target. On the par-5 18th, needing one more birdie to force a playoff, MacIntyre's second shot from the wet fairway went wildly left, finishing near a concession stand. After taking relief from a temporary immovable obstruction, he could only advance the ball to the green with a wedge, leaving himself 30 feet. The birdie putt was short all the way. He carded a 2-under 70 to share second with England's Matt Wallace, who shot 68, and American Michael Kim, who posted 69. Sweden's Ludvig Åberg and Andrew Putnam tied for fifth at 15-under.

The result traces a familiar pattern. Last June at Oakmont, Spaun beat MacIntyre by two shots to win the U.S. Open, denying the Scot a first major title. Now, less than 10 months later at TPC San Antonio, Spaun again stood between MacIntyre and a landmark win, this time by a single stroke. For Spaun, it is confirmation that a difficult early-season stretch has not eroded what he showed in last summer's major: the capacity to post a number, hold a lead, and let challengers exhaust themselves. He is also the first two-time champion of this event since it moved to TPC San Antonio's Oaks Course, having won here in 2022 when the Texas Open title served as his tour breakthrough. MacIntyre, meantime, carries a second runner-up finish behind Spaun into Augusta as he continues searching for win number three.