Carlos Ortiz wins individual title at LIV Golf Houston

Carlos Ortiz won Houston from LIV Golf event in the same city where he also won on the PGA Tour in 2020.

He shot a final round five-under 67 to finish at 15 under, one shot ahead Adrian Meronk. Houston area resident Patrick Reed tied for third place with David Puig at 13 under.

“I love playing here,” Ortiz said. “Obviously, Texas treats me well. It’s my adopted state. I’m just happy to start again in Houston.”

After separating from the rest of the field, Ortiz and Meronk found themselves dueling for most of the back nine.

Tied heading into the par-four 15th, Ortiz birdied the hole while Meronk made bogey after running into trouble off the tee and taking a penalty. Ortiz made bogey on the 18th hole after missing his only green of the day, but Meronk’s birdie attempt went over the cut.

“He played amazing and he put the pressure on until the end,” Ortiz said of Meronk. “It was a good fight.”

“He played really, really well,” Meronk said of Ortiz. “He really deserved it. I hope I can get it next time.”

Meronk shot a 68 in the final round for his best result since joining LIV Golf during the offseason. Although disappointed not to win the individual title, he was happy to be part of the Cleeks’ first team celebration.

“That’s the cool thing about LIV, having three other guys on the team with you,” Meronk said. “Even if you don’t win or you don’t perform the way you would like individually, you keep that team ranking.”

Carlos Ortiz – What you need to know

Ortiz was born in Guadalajara on April 24, 1991. He played college golf in the United States at the University of North Texas. At the 2011 Summer Universiade, he was a member of the team that won the bronze medal. He played for Mexico in the 2010 Eisenhower Trophy and again in 2012, when Mexico was runner-up.

Ortiz turned professional in 2013. He finished T-15 at the Web.com Tour qualifying school after playing in the first, second and finals. He joined the Tour in 2014 and won the fourth event of the year, the Panama Claro Championship. He won his second Web.com Tour event three weeks later at the El Bosque Mexico Championship and moved into the top 200 in the world rankings.

He earned a sponsor’s exemption to compete in the 2014 Memorial, where he finished tied for 65th in his PGA Tour debut. He won his third Web.com event of the season at the Portland Open, earning full exemption status on the 2014–15 PGA Tour as a three-time single-season winner. He was later named Web.com Tour Player of the Year.

In his first full season on the PGA Tour, Ortiz finished 93rd in the FedEx Cup and had his best finish of the season, T9, at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba.

He lost his place on Tour after a poor 2016 season and returned to the Web.com Tour in 2017 and 2018, regaining his place on the PGA Tour after the 2018 season. He finished the 2018–19 PGA Tour season to 113th in the FedEx Cup standings, with a best finish of third at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

In November 2020, Ortiz won his first PGA Tour event at the Houston Open.

He now practices his trade on LIV Golf.

He averages 299.93 yards from the tee, finds 79.63% of fairways and hits 79% of greens in regulation. He goes up and down the sand 46.67% of the time, averages 30.27 putts per round, averages 4.33 birdies per round and has a scoring average of 69.27.