D A Points held his nerve to hole a 12 foot putt on the final green – using his mother’s putter – to win the Shell Houston Open, as Henrik Stenson secured his Masters Tournament place.
Points, who took the putter out of the garage at the start of the week after a season blighted by problems on the green, parred the final hole to deny Stenson and Billy Horschel a play-off as he won by one with a 16 under total following his 66.
Swede Stenson fired a 66 but could console himself with an invite to Augusta National, as he secured the top-13 finish he needed to end the week in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.
However, there was heartache for Marcel Siem. The German won the Trophée Hassan II earlier in the day to move into 49th, but was surpassed by Stenson and Russell Henley, who finished tied 45th needing top 53 to make the year’s first Major.
Siem has one final chance at next week’s Valero Texas Open, where he is a late sponsor’s invite and will need to win for the second week running to earn a Masters debut.
Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen both registered top-ten finishes as their preparations for Georgia continued to gather momentum.
