By Tony Webeck

A hot putter wasn’t enough to earn Matt Jones the final place in the field for The Masters as he finished tied for second at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.

Seeking to join fellow Aussies Adam Scott (2010) and Steven Bowditch (2014) as winners of the Texas Open at TPC San Antonio, Jones seemed an unlikely contender at the beginning of the final round.

Outside the top 20 and five strokes off the lead, Jones matched the best score of the final round – a six-under 66 – to finish two strokes back of champion JJ Spaun (69) and tied with Matt Kuchar (69) at 11-under.

The 41-year-old had four birdies in his opening five holes on Sunday and birdied 14, 15 and 17 down the stretch to record his best PGA TOUR finish since his victory at The Honda Classic more than 12 months ago.

“I had a good round going Thursday and let it slip and then Friday I just played poorly and made a couple of mistakes,” said Jones, who was left to lament a round of three-over 75 on Friday.

“Those mistakes are what cost golf tournaments out on this tour because everyone's so good.”

A two-time winner on Tour, Jones putted superbly on Sunday and ended the week with a Strokes Gained: Putting statistic of +0.586, something he hopes to carry forward in the events to come.

“I don't think I've had a positive Strokes Gained: Putting since Maui, so to have that today and yesterday is something I can always build on,” said Jones, who needed to win to earn an invitation to play Augusta National this week.

Three-time ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia winner Steven Alker added a second Champions Tour title to his extraordinary run of form on the US seniors circuit.

The 50-year-old Kiwi shot 65 in the final round to win the Rapiscan Systems Classic by six shots, his second victory and 12th top-10 finish in just 15 starts on the Champions Tour.

“I got off to a little bit of a slow start, but yesterday was amazing,” said Alker, who shot 10-under 62 in the second round.

“I just turned my putting around and it clicked and I started hitting the ball better. It’s always nice when the week just gets better and better.

“It got really better quick, so it was great. Glad to be champion.”

Hira Naveed registered her second top-10 finish of the 2022 Epson Tour at the Casino Del Sol Golf Classic in Arizona while West Australian Danny List earned PGA TOUR Canada status with a fourth-place finish at the Q-School USA West 1 event also in Arizona. Results

PGA TOUR Valero Texas Open TPC San Antonio (Oaks Cse), San Antonio, Texas Winner JJ Spaun 67-70-69-69—275 $US1.548m T2 Matt Jones 68-75-68-66—277 $765,400 T18 Aaron Baddeley 69-74-68-70—281 $92,606 MC Jason Day 74-70—144 MC Min Woo Lee 74-72—146 WD Danny Lee Japan Golf Tour Token Homemate Cup Token Tado Country Club (Nagoya Cse), Mie Winner Jinichiro Kozuma 66-69-66-69—270 ¥26m Won on the first hole of sudden death playoff T44 Andrew Evans 73-71-73-67—284 ¥455,000 T55 Brendan Jones 69-72-75-71—287 ¥312,000 MC Anthony Quayle 71-75—146 MC Matthew Griffin 70-76—146 MC Adam Bland 76-76—152 PGA TOUR Latinoamerica 90 Abierto del Centro memorial Eduardo Gato Romero Cordoba Golf Club, Cordoba, Argentina Winner Alejandro Tosti 71-66-68-69—274 T33 Tim Stewart 72-65-76-76—289 MC Charlie Hillier 76-72—148 MC Denzel Ieremia 77-73—150 Korn Ferry Tour Club Car Championship at The Landings Club Landings Club – Deer Creek GC, Savannah, Georgia Winner TJ Vogel 69-67-68-67—271 $US135,000 T58 Curtis Luck 71-71-72-75—289 $3,060 T65 Harrison Endycott 70-72-76-72—290 $2,985 MC Rhein Gibson 71-72—143 MC Brett Drewitt 72-74—146 MC Ryan Ruffels 77-74—151 Challenge Tour Limpopo Championship Euphoria GC, Limpopo, South Africa Winner Mateusz Gradecki 68-68-67-66—269 €35,793 MC Daniel Hillier 70-70—140 MC Deyen Lawson 71-71—142 Epson Tour Casino Del Sol Golf Classic Sewailo Golf Club, Tucson, AZ Winner Andrea Lee 69-65-67-69—270 $US30,000 8 Hira Naveed 67-68-73-67—275 T17 Sarah Jane Smith 67-68-72-71—278 T20 Amelia Garvey 71-72-66-70—279 T29 Robyn Choi 69-71-71-69—280 T52 Grace Kim 71-71-73-71—286 T58 Julienne Soo 74-67-73-74—288 PGA TOUR Canada Q-School USA West 1 Wigwam Golf Club, Litchfield Park, Arizona Winner Max Marsico 71-64-71-65—271 T4 Danny List 71-67-70-69—277 T17 Jack Trent 72-70-69-71—282 T42 Jack Murdoch 73-72-73-69—287 Champions Tour Rapiscan Systems Classic Grand Bear Golf Club, Biloxi, Missouri Winner Steven Alker 71-62-65—198 $US240,000 T8 David McKenzie 68-71-69—208 $39,086 T20 Rod Pampling 75-67-69—211 $19,840 T48 Stuart Appleby 72-74-72—218 $4,800 T56 John Senden 76-72-72—220 $3,280