Patton Kizzire had his most uneven round of the tournament Sunday, but it ended up being more than enough for him to secure his first PGA victory of the season and first win in six years at the Procore Championship in Napa, Calif.
Entering the day with a four-stroke advantage, Kizzire made that lead stick by shooting a 2-under-par 70 to finish the tournament 20-under 268, five strokes ahead of his nearest pursuer.
Fellow players Keith Mitchell, Ben Kohles and Greyson Sigg doused the winner with champagne as he exited 18.
"I'd rather not be covered in champagne right now, but I'll take it!" Kizzire said.
Kizzire, who had last taken home a tournament victory at the 2018 Sony Open in Hawaii, fired an eagle on the par-5 No. 5, increasing his edge. Bogeys on Nos. 9 and 11 might have created an opening for his opponents, but Kizzire recovered to score birdies on Nos. 12, 13 and 15 to effectively shut the door.
Sunday's victory represented a remarkable turnaround for the 38-year-old, who at one point earlier this season missed the cut in six straight events. It also boosted Kizzire's "FedEx Cup Fall" standings position from No. 132 all the way up to a projected No. 70, a rise of more than 60 spots and a position that secures him full status for the 2025 PGA Tour season as part of a two-year exemption.
This came a year after he missed the Top 125 cutoff line.
"That's life – there's ups and downs," Kizzire said. "It's so competitive out here. You've gotta be on top of your game to win. That's what makes it so sweet."
He also earned slightly more than $1 million for the victory.
"Since I was a kid, and they asked me what I wanted to do when I was in the second grade, and I said, 'I want to be a professional golfer and I'll never change my mind,'" an emotional Kizzire said after he missed the cutoff in 2023.
David Lipsky provided Kizzire's biggest competition on Sunday, shooting a 1-under 71 to finish in second place with a 15-under 273. In doing so, he also improved his fall standing (projected 101), though he would have preferred the win.
"Close to being locked up at least, way closer than I was before," Lipsky said. "It's a good feeling. It's like, you know, obviously I wanted to win this week, but coming in second doing that, I'll take it. That's a small victory and that was sort of what my goal was going into the fall was just play consistent, play solid and sort of lock up my card for the next year."
Only 10 golfers managed to break 70 on the day, with Wesley Bryan (T13) shooting the low score with a 5-under 67.
"It was really tough out there, the wind was swirling and it was strong and the greens were so firm," Lipsky said. "Where they put some of those pins is really tough to get close."
Patrick Fishburn (71) was third at 14 under.
Three golfers finished tied for fourth at 13 under: Sigg (72) and Canadians Ben Silverman (71) and Mackenzie Hughes (72). — AGENCIES