Tour News
After six years, Curtis is back in the winner’s circle
By James Dalthorp
GolfWRX Contributor
When Ben Curtis won his first major championship as a rookie at the 2003 British Open Championship, there were many who tagged him as a “fluke” or “longshot.” After all, he was ranked 396th in the world entering the event with just his strong amateur resume to validate his win. But nine years later, he’s reached rare company with his third PGA TOUR win under his belt, secured today at the Valero Texas Open at the TPC San Antonio. Curtis shot an even-par 72 to finish at 9-under, a two shot win that was heartfelt for the 34-year-old.
“All the emotions … you don’t even know you have ‘em until you go through something like that,” Curtis said.
Curtis has been through major life experiences during his PGA Tour career. Not long after his major win in his rookie season, he tied the knot with his wife Candace at the United Methodist Church just miles from the site of where he played that week’s tournament at Firestone Country Club. He now has two young children.
Curtis had been playing the European Tour regularly because he did not have full status on Tour. In the past six years since his last win, he had only 24 made cuts in over 200 starts. Through the trying times, he continued to listen to the advice of his college coach from Kent State University. The Ohio State amateur champion mentioned his advice regularly in the media center after his win.
“He said, ‘Just keep working hard and good things will happen.’”
Curtis held off young standouts Matt Every and John Huh by a two shot margin. Every was the first round leader after a course-record 63. Curtis managed two steady opening rounds of 67, followed by 73-72 on the weekend. His two double bogeys on the front nine in Round 3 set him back, but Curtis overcame the setback to finish two-under his last ten holes in difficult conditions. The final round of 72 was two shots below the field average of nearly 74 at TPC San Antonio.
The tough conditions could be attributed to not only a difficult course, designed by Greg Norman, but challenging conditions. The nearly 7500-yard layout saw its share of challenging weather over four days. Day 1, a steady wind from the South made scoring conditions inconsistent. In Round 2, wind came at the same moment, but from a more northern direction. The switch meant that players who teed off late Thursday and early Friday saw a different course – the wind did not start to blow until about noon on Friday which gave the players ideal scoring conditions. At about 1:45 p.m. CST Friday, a rainstorm hit San Antonio that caused players to continue their rounds Saturday morning.
The North wind continued to blow Saturday – and finally Sunday the breeze settled down. However, the pin positions were tough to putt.
“It was hard to get yourself after a while to make good strokes and trust yourself,” Curtis said of the holes today, which were cut in places that were difficult to read.
John Huh and Matt Every fought hard to challenge Curtis, but could not get their putts to drop late. Huh was 9-over after eight holes in the first round, but battled back into contention after only one bogey and 16 birdies in his final 64 holes. He would come up just two shots out of a playoff.
Curtis earned his victory with two clutch putts at the end of the round. Faced with a challenging lie on the No. 17 , he bladed a wedge shot from the fairway over the green. From there, he had to make a lengthy putt of some 25 feet to save par and maintain a one shot lead. He drained it.
“It was the best putt I hit all week,” Curtis said.
He finished his round by making a 15-footer for birdie on the 18th green for a two-shot win.
“I love hard golf courses,” Curtis said. “I love when par is premium. I love courses where you have to control your distance – not only in the air but also on the ground.”
Curtis will head to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans next week thanks to the win. This is his ninth year on the PGA Tour and he will look to defend the Valero Texas Open next year on a new date – the week before the Masters. Next week in New Orleans, he will join Huh and Every in the field that includes Masters and defending champion Bubba Watson, as well as Keegan Bradley, Ernie Els, Justin Rose, and Luke Donald.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans
GolfWRX is live on site this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for the PGA Tour’s one-and-only two-man team event.
As usual, general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums — including some pretty spicy custom putters and headcovers — await your viewing.
Be sure to check back for more photos from the Big Easy, as we’ll continue to update this page with additional galleries throughout the week.
General Albums
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Monday #1
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Monday #2
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Alex Fitzpatrick – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Austin Cook – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Alejandro Tosti – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Davis Riley – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- MJ Daffue – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Nate Lashley – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- James Nicholas – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Kevin Streelman – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Rasmus Hojgaard – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Tom Whitney – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- SangMoon Bae – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Daniel Berger – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Rory McIlroy – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Russ Cochrane – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Aldrich Potgieter – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Steve Stricker WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Drew Brees WITB (Legendary New Orleans Saints QB) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Derek Carr (New Orleans Saints QB) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Thriston Lawrence WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
Pullout Albums
- MJ Daffue’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Cameron putters – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Swag covers ( a few custom for Nick Hardy) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Custom Bettinardi covers for Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Doug Ghim’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Patrick Cantlay spotted testing a Scotty Cameron blade putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
GolfWRX is on site this week at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Plenty of golfers who competed in the Masters last week will be making the quick turnaround in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as the Heritage is again one of the Tour’s Signature Events.
We have general albums for you to check out, as well as plenty of WITBs — including Justin Thomas and Justin Rose.
We’ll continue to update as more photos flow in from SC.
Check out links to all our photos, below.
General Albums
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #2
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Justin Thomas – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Rose – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Chandler Phillips – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Nick Dunlap – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Thomas Detry – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Austin Eckroat – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Jason Day – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Will Zalatoris – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Patrick Cantlay – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Ludvig Aberg – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Collin Morikawa – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Sam Burns – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Stephen Jaeger – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
Pullout Albums
- Wyndham Clark’s Odyssey putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- JT’s new Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Thomas testing new Titleist 2 wood – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey putter with triple track alignment aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Scotty Cameron The Blk Box putting alignment aid/training aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey Ai One Eleven T putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Christian Bezuidenhout – testing new Callaway Ti 340 mini driver – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele testing the Callaway Ti 340 mini driver & the DUW – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Byeong Hun An, two new L.A.B. Golf putter builds with “T” alignment – 2024 RBC Heritage
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Valero Texas Open
GolfWRX is on site this week at the Valero Texas Open.
The event has been around since 1922, making it one of the oldest on the PGA Tour calendar. Over the years, it’s been held at a variety of courses across the Lone Star State, but it’s found its home at TPC San Antonio in recent years. Some of the biggest names in golf have taken home the title here, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, and Ben Crenshaw.
GolfWRX has its usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs and special pull-out albums. As always, we’ll continue to update the links below as more photos come in from TPC San Antonio.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Ben Taylor – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Paul Barjon – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Joe Sullivan – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Wilson Furr – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Willman – SoTex PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Jimmy Stanger – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Rickie Fowler – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Harrison Endycott – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Vince Whaley – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Kevin Chappell – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Christian Bezuidenhout – WITB (mini) – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Scott Gutschewski – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
Pullout Albums
- Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Taylor with new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Swag cover – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Greyson Sigg’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Davis Riley’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Josh Teater’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hzrdus T1100 is back – – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Mark Hubbard testing ported Titleist irons – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Tyson Alexander testing new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hideki Matsuyama’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Cobra putters – 2024 Valero Texas Open
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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Derek
Apr 23, 2012 at 10:01 pm
24 cuts made in 200 starts?? Might wanna check you facts..