Jason Kokrak wins maiden PGA Tour title with CJ Cup victory
Jason Kokrak edged Xander Schauffele at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas to win his first PGA Tour title.
Jason Kokrak finally got his hands on a PGA Tour title as he produced a perfect final round in Las Vegas to win the CJ Cup.
The World No.53 has now moved to No.26, a career high in the World Rankings, whilst the win also guarantees Kokrak as spot in next year's Masters and PGA Championship.
Kokrak made eight birdies in a faultless final round of 64 at Shadow Creek, finishing the tournament on 20-under par, two ahead of playing partner Xander Schauffele.
It's taken 233 PGA Tour starts for Kokrak to lift a trophy, but the 35-year-old has been in excellent form over the past year and was thrilled to finally get a win over the line.
"I did a good job of hitting the spots where we were trying to putt it to," Kokrak said. "Very happy with how I've been putting and kind of paying off with all the work I've been putting in."
Tyrrell Hatton, who recently won the BMW PGA Championship - the European Tour's flagship event - didn't allow jetlag to get in the way of another top performance, shooting a final round of 65 to finish the tournament at 17-under and in a tie for 3rd with Russell Henley, the overnight leader, while Tyler Gooch finished one shot further back in 5th.
Starting Sunday's final round three strokes off the lead, Kokrak was one-under through the first four holes, but four consecutive birdies rocketed the American up the leaderboard.
At the 9th hole, Schauffele rolled one in from 20 feet to get within one of the lead, but Kokrak made two more birdies of his own at 10 and 11 to reapply the pressure.
Schauffele added further gains at the 12th and 13th to regain a share of the lead, but a bogey at the par-5 16th gave Kokrak a one-shot lead heading into the final hole.
A big drive at a big time.
Leader @JayKokrak will have just 161 yards into the par-5 18th. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/ffSS5J7RNL
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 18, 2020
Kokrak ripped his drive from the tee, leaving only a wedge into the par-5 18th, allowing him to two-putt for another birdie and extend his winning margin to two shots, with Schauffele finishing with a par to sign for a closing round of 66.
Last year's winner Justin Thomas struggled in his final round, shooting a 2-over par score of 74 to finish in T12 alongside English duo Matt Fitzpatrick and Ian Poulter, as well as rising stars Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland.
