Valero Texas Open: Chappell wins first PGA Tour title

Final leaderboard

-12 Kevin Chappell
-11 Brooks Koepka
-9 Kevin Tway, Tony Finau
-8 Aaron Baddeley
-7 Sung Kang, Cameron Smith, Brian Gay, Ryan Palmer

Day four report

Kevin Chappell celebrated his first PGA Tour title after winning the Valero Texas Open.

The 30-year-old American, who has six runners-up finishes to his name, finally went one better with a one-shot victory over compatriot Brooks Koepka in San Antonio.

Chappell, the overnight leader, got the job done as he birdied the final hole to card a four-under-par 68 and avoid a play-off with Koepka.

He told the pgatour.com: "I am excited that I don't have to answer that question of, 'What do I have to do to win again'. There is some excitement and a lot of joy right now.

"I was really calm all day, I never freaked out. Playing the last hole was simple, make a four and I win the tournament."

Koepka had fired himself into contention with an impressive 65, which included eight birdies and one bogey.

Kevin Tway and Tony Finau were a shot further back on nine-under, with Australian Aaron Baddeley on eight under.

"I am excited that I don't have to answer that question of, 'What do I have to do to win again'. There is some excitement and a lot of joy right now.

"I was really calm all day, I never freaked out. Playing the last hole was simple, make a four and I win the tournament."

Final collated scores

276 Kevin Chappell 69 68 71 68

277 Brooks Koepka 68 74 70 65

279 Tony Finau 71 65 74 69, Kevin Tway 70 68 72 69

280 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 69 70 73 68

281 Cameron Smith (Aus) 72 65 73 71, Ryan Palmer 74 68 68 71, Brian Gay 68 72 71 70, Sung Kang (Kor) 69 70 74 68

282 Bud Cauley 70 66 74 72, Branden Grace (Rsa) 66 73 70 73, Camilo Villegas (Col) 73 70 69 70

283 Matt Jones (Aus) 69 73 71 70, Jimmy Walker 70 69 74 70, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 73 68 75 67

284 Robby Shelton 68 69 75 72, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 73 66 71 74

285 Ollie Schniederjans 72 67 75 71, Martin Laird (Sco) 72 67 71 75, Jim Herman 69 72 71 73, Ryan Moore 70 70 73 72

286 J.J. Henry 72 71 72 71, John Huh 67 71 71 77, Stewart Cink 67 75 74 70, Nick Taylor (Can) 69 72 71 74, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 70 72 71 73

287 JT Poston 70 73 71 73, Bob Estes 68 69 75 75, Graeme McDowell (Nirl) 68 74 76 69, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 69 74 73 71, Sebastian Munoz (Col) 70 71 72 74, Jonathan Randolph 68 70 75 74, Nicholas Lindheim 71 70 74 72

288 Brandon Hagy 70 73 73 72, Ryan Brehm 71 69 74 74, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 69 71 73 75

289 Billy Hurley III 72 71 74 72, Kyle Reifers 72 71 74 72, Smylie Kaufman 70 74 73 72

290 Andres Gonzales 70 74 74 72, Andrew Johnston (Eng) 75 69 74 72, Charley Hoffman 71 72 73 74, Harold Varner III 71 71 74 74, Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 73 69 76 72, Tag Ridings 72 72 73 73, Matt Kuchar 73 71 75 71, Jamie Lovemark 69 73 73 75, Ben Crane 74 69 75 72

291 Michael Thompson 70 70 79 72, Shawn Stefani 68 73 73 77, J.J. Spaun 73 67 81 70, Troy Merritt 72 69 76 74

292 Freddie Jacobson (Swe) 69 71 77 75, Zack Sucher 71 73 77 71, Kevin Streelman 71 72 73 76, Tom Hoge 68 72 76 76

293 Bryce Molder 68 74 76 75

294 Justin Leonard 72 72 75 75, Ken Duke 68 72 79 75, Daniel Summerhays 72 72 76 74, Seamus Power (Irl) 72 72 74 76

295 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 74 78 74, Brendan Steele 70 71 78 76, Cameron Percy (Aus) 70 73 72 80, Blayne Barber 70 73 76 76, Wesley McClain 73 71 74 77

296 Ricky Barnes 73 68 77 78, Jason Kokrak 72 72 79 73

297 Brad Fritsch (Can) 74 69 76 78, Dominic Bozzelli 72 71 76 78, Andrew Loupe 72 69 81 75

298 Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) 71 72 73 82, Adam Hadwin (Can) 70 72 82 74, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 69 75 78 76

300 Julian Etulain (Arg) 71 73 75 81

301 Steven Alker (Nzl) 67 76 85 73

Day three report

America's Kevin Chappell finally got to grips with the windy conditions at the Valero Texas Open to claim the outright lead on day three as he chases his first PGA Tour victory.

The 30-year-old, who has six runners-up finishes to his name, was just one shot off the lead after Friday but an outward 38 appeared to have left him struggling.

However, three birdies in his final five holes in a bogey-free back nine lifted him to the top of the leaderboard on eight under after a round of 71.

South Africa's Branden Grace, a renowned good wind player, shot 70 to move to seven under alongside another American John Huh.

The group one shot further back included Ryan Palmer, who carded an impressive 68 on a testing day on the AT&T Oaks Course in San Antonio, and Scotland's Martin Laird after a 71.

Overnight joint leaders Tony Finau and Bud Cauley were also in that chasing pack having rallied late on in their rounds after difficult starts.

Both carded two-over 74s, still leaving them well-placed just two behind Chappell.

Day two report

American pair Bud Cauley and Tony Finau share the lead at the halfway point of the Valero Texas Open.

Both men are tied on eight under as Cauley, who is chasing a first PGA Tour win, fired a six-under-par 66 while Finau went one better with a 65.

Cauley struck six birdies in his blemish-free round, but Finau's card was more erratic, with an eagle, eight birdies and three bogeys keeping the scorers busy.

Australian Cameron Smith, who matched Finau's 65 as the lowest score of the day, Bob Estes, Kevin Chappell and Robby Shelton lead the chasing pack on seven under.

Scotland's Martin Laird is three shots off the lead after his 67 moved him to five under but it was a disappointing day for Graeme McDowell as he shot a two-over-par 74 to fall back to six off the lead, having started his round two behind overnight leader Branden Grace.

There were some high-profile names to miss the cut as Zach Johnson and Luke Donald will not be returning for the weekend, while Ian Poulter's failure to beat the even par cut-off means he loses his PGA Tour card.

Day one report

Branden Grace holds a one-shot lead after the opening round of the Valero Texas Open, where Graeme McDowell also made a strong start. 

The South African mixed seven birdies with a sole blemish to post a six-under 66 at TPC San Antonio, with Stewart Cink one of four players in a share of second.

McDowell and Brooks Koepka both sit in the group tied-fifth after opening-round 67s, while Ian Poulter is facing a battle to make the cut following a three-over 75.

Grace holed a 20-footer from the fringe to birdie the second but gave it back with a missed par-save from seven feet at the fourth, before three gains in a four-hole stretch saw him reach the turn in 33.

The world No 21 continued his birdie run with a close-range at the 10th and picked up further shots at the 13th and 14th to set a clubhouse target which wasn't matched.

Cink picked up four birdies in five holes after the turn on his way to five under, with Jon Huh posting a blemish-free card to also join Will MacKenzie one off the pace.

Steven Alker birdied his final three holes to make it a four-way tie for second, with McDowell one of 13 players on four under after a strong start to the week.

Soren Kjeldsen briefly threatened the lead with three consecutive gains from the fourth, only to three-putt the seventh and bogey the ninth to match Patrick Reed's opening 69.

Andrew 'Beef' Johnston lies nine off the pace alongside Poulter, who needs to earn US$30,624 in prize money this week to retain his full PGA Tour playing privileges.