PGA Tour player Brian Harman secured a win in the final round of the Valero Texas Open on Sunday at TPC San Antonio.
Harman began the day with a 12-under-par total, but he lost a stroke on hole four. The 2023 Open champion faced a tight battle against fellow PGA Tour player Andrew Novak, who trailed Harman by as little as one stroke on hole five. Harsh weather conditions played a factor, yet Harman walked away with the trophy.
“Yeah, it’s really hard, especially the first two days. I was playing such good golf, just aiming at everything, making a ton of putts and having a lot of fun,” Harman said. “Then all of a sudden the weather flips, and not only the weather flips but the wind’s coming from a totally different direction.”
Harman tapped in the final seven-inch putt on hole 18 to close out the 2025 Valero Texas Open with a win and threw a fist out to the crowd in celebration of his victory.
“[I have] been playing some really good golf,” Herman said. “My scores haven’t showed it, but I’ve been feeling like it was right there. To have it pop this week and be in good form for some big stuff coming up is really awesome.”
Harman and Novak carded their first birdies early on hole two, bringing their total score to 13-under-par and 10-under-par respectively. After that, it was even-par golf for Novak after Harman suffered a setback on hole four.
Harman faced a 468-yard, par-4 with rough, windy conditions. His first shot landed in the left fairway, giving him a clear 148 yards to the pin. His second stroke found the left side bunker around the green, and his ensuing chip up flew his third strike past the hole, resulting in a two-putt bogey. This caused him to drop to a total of 12-under-par as Novak followed two strokes behind at 10-under-par.
“[Novak] had great shots all day. He struggled a little bit coming down the stretch,” Harman said. “I felt like if I could just hang it down, I knew I was gonna have some good shots at some point.”
The pressure began to weigh on Harman after Novak birdied the following hole. Novak hit his first shot on the par-4 into the right leaving 127 yards to the hole, giving him an unobstructed line to the green. After finding the right side on his second shot attempt, he sank a 3-foot putt, placing him one stroke behind Harman.
“Halfway through the day I figured that he was the one guy that I really needed to focus on and try [to] beat,” Harman said of Novak.
Harman’s trajectory changed with a birdie on hole 12. He drilled a 14-foot putt, giving him a two-shot advantage and helping him hold onto the lead as he headed into the tournament’s final stretch.
“[I] made a really nice putt on [that hole]. Number 12 is when my round sort of flipped a little bit,” Harman said. “That put me up two, so I started feeling pretty good after that.”
Harman will be attending the 2025 Masters Tournament with other Tour players from April 10 to 13 at the Augusta National Golf Club.
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