HOUSTON –  In its return to the PGA TOUR, Memorial Park provided the setting for someone to earn their first victory in the most satisfying way: by executing demanding shots to hold off some of the world’s best players.

Carlos Ortiz won the Vivint Houston Open with birdies on two of the final three holes. He finished atop a leaderboard that included Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama. It was Ortiz’s first PGA TOUR victory in 118 starts and first win of any kind in six years.

The return to Memorial Park, which last hosted a TOUR event in 1963, was always going to be a monumental week. The new venue brought the Vivint Houston Open from the suburbs to a municipal course located in the heart of the nation’s fourth-largest city. Memorial Park is the rare course that can challenge the world’s best players, while everyone else can play the other 51 weeks of the year for under $40.

The Astros Golf Foundation, the tournament’s host organization, accomplished that by hiring the iconoclastic architect Tom Doak. Several of his designs can be found on rankings of the world’s top 100 courses, but this was the first one to host a PGA TOUR event.

Doak created a course that challenged the pros, while remaining playable for the everyman, by removing bunkers and replacing them with steep slopes of short grass. Combine those tricky contours with firm greens and thick rough, and Memorial Park was a stiff challenge. Despite playing hundreds of yards shorter than its scorecard yardage, the course had an over-par scoring average for the week. It is one of just six courses in this calendar year with a scoring average at least a stroke over par.

There were 33 scores of triple-bogey or worse this week – more than even the U.S. Open at Winged Foot – and Doak’s difficult contours were the main culprit. Ortiz handled them expertly. He led the field in scrambling, getting up-and-down 18 of 21 times. That helped him stay in contention despite struggling to find fairways earlier in the week (he hit less than half in the first three rounds).

Ortiz started Sunday in the final group, one shot behind leader Sam Burns and tied with Day.

“Every time you’re inside three strokes from the leader, you know you have a good chance,” Ortiz said. “I’ve been putting myself in those spots quite a bit the last year and I feel like I had what I needed to get it done.”

Ortiz holed out twice from off the green on the front nine Sunday, using a putter both times, to take a two-shot lead at the turn. He still had plenty of work, however. His two closest pursuers were Johnson, the reigning FedExCup champion, and Koepka, the four-time major winner who was the player consultant on Memorial Park’s radical renovation.

“I was trying to mind my own business,” Ortiz said. “I’ve been working really hard on staying positive, patient and don’t let my emotions get the best of me and I think I did an amazing job this week.”

Providing an exciting finish was another objective of Doak, who studied under Pete Dye and shadowed him at the first PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

When Dye was criticized for the severity of his designs, he claimed that he was simply creating a canvas for players to display their immense skill. “We’re just giving them the opportunities to hit great golf shots,” Dye said.

Memorial Park’s closing holes gave Ortiz that opportunity. The first came on the par-5 16th, where he faced a 223-yard second shot to a water-guarded green. Ortiz started walking after his ball almost immediately after striking it. He knew it was good, and he watched it roll 8 feet from the hole. He missed the eagle putt, but his birdie gave him back the lead he’d lost after making par on the first six holes of the back nine.

Doak built Memorial Park’s final hole to be a brute after giving players several birdie opportunities on the back nine. Ortiz walked to the tee with a one-shot lead. This was another opportunity to show his mettle, and he did. He hit both the fairway and the green before rolling in the 22-foot birdie putt to seal his first PGA TOUR victory.

He missed just four fairways and three greens Sunday to shoot a 65 that gave him a two-shot victory over Johnson and Matsuyama. Koepka finished fifth, five shots behind Ortiz, while Day faded Sunday and tied for seventh. Koepka closed with consecutive 65s, making a second-half surge after struggling in the first two rounds with a new driver.

Johnson missed a 7-foot birdie putt on 17, and both he and Matsuyama missed makeable birdie tries on 18. Johnson hit the ball impeccably on the weekend but, outside of the 60-foot birdie putt he made on the 11th hole Sunday, he lost strokes on the greens.

Ortiz became the third player from Mexico to win on the PGA TOUR, and his maiden win came in his adopted home state. He’s lived in Texas since arriving at the University of North Texas. He had a solid career for the Mean Green but wasn’t considered a can’t-miss prospect when he turned pro. Then, in his first full season as a professional, he won three times on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn an immediate PGA TOUR promotion. He couldn’t have imagined he’d have to wait six years for another win.

“I’m really happy the way everything played out, and then obviously this time it went my way,” Ortiz said. “I feel like I’ve put in the work, my team has been working with me really hard and I’m just happy.”

THIRD ROUND

HOUSTON – Shortly before Collin Morikawa, Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland stormed the PGA TOUR, Sam Burns was the big prospect coming out of the college game.

Three years ago, he was the Jack Nicklaus Award winner as college golf’s top player. That same year, Burns finished in the top 10 of a PGA TOUR event while still an amateur. Then, in one of his first TOUR starts after turning pro, Burns played alongside Tiger Woods, and beat him.

Now Burns, still just 24 years old, has a chance to earn his first PGA TOUR victory Sunday at the Vivint Houston Open. He will start the final round at Memorial Park with a one-shot lead.

The reigning FedExCup champion, a former World No. 1 and a demanding golf course all stand between him and the trophy, however.

Burns got up-and-down for a scrambling par on 18 to shoot 68 on Saturday. He’s at 9-under 201, one ahead of Carlos Ortiz and Jason Day. Ortiz and Day both shot 67 on Saturday.

Sepp Straka is two shots back, while Dustin Johnson is three behind. Johnson, who is playing for the first time since the U.S. Open, has shot consecutive 66s after a sloppy 72 in the first round.

Johnson and Day, who’ve combined for 35 PGA TOUR victories, won’t be the only thing he has to worry about, however. Memorial Park, the municipal course that is making its return to the PGA TOUR after a hiatus that lasted more than a half-century, has proven to be quite the test. Its scoring average this week is more than a stroke over par. There have been 32 triple-bogeys or worse this week, more than there were the entire week at Winged Foot for this year’s U.S. Open.

Many of those high scores are attributed to the steep slopes of short grass around the greens. They repel wayward approach shots and make recovery difficult. A chip shot caught heavy will roll back to a player’s feet, while a bump-and-run hit too hard can scoot across the green. Combine that challenge with the thick rough along the fairways and firm greens and it’s easy to see why this public course has put up such a good fight.

“It’s not a matter of if. It’s a matter of when this golf course will hit you,” Burns said.

It’s also about how you bounce back from those blows. Burns, who started Saturday with the lead, bogeyed two of his first three holes but also eagled the eighth hole and birdied three of his final six holes to grab the solo lead.

Burns has already proven he can handle playing with a future World Golf Hall of Famer in the final round of a PGA TOUR event.

It was two years ago that Burns played with Woods in the final round of The Honda Classic. Burns was a Korn Ferry Tour player competing on a sponsor exemption, while Woods was beginning to show the form that led to wins at the TOUR Championship, Masters and ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP.

No one would have blamed Burns if he succumb to the pressure of playing with Woods, who was adorned in his Sunday red. Burns beat him instead.

Burns shot 68, two shots lower than Woods, to finish in the top 10.

Burns graduated the Korn Ferry Tour that year. He finished third in his second TOUR event as a member, the Sanderson Farms Championship, and kept his card despite suffering a season-ending ankle injury in July. He broke his right ankle while playing pickup basketball with kids in his neighborhood.

Burns returned for the start of the new season but admits that may have been premature. He said it wasn’t until this January that the ankle stopped bothering him. Two months later, the season was paused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Burns finished 111th in the FedExCup this year, but already has been in contention once in this young season. He held the halfway lead at the season-opening Safeway Open and entered Sunday one shot back. A final-round 70, including a 37 on the back nine, left him four shots back of winner Stewart Cink.

On Sunday, Burns will play in the final group alongside Day and Carlos Ortiz, who’s also seeking his first PGA TOUR win. Day called his game “a work in progress” as he rebuilds his swing to take stress of his ailing back.

“I’ve got to be patient with it,” Day said Saturday.

Johnson, meanwhile, could accomplish something he’s never done before. He has 23 PGA TOUR wins, but none of them have come after he shot over par in the first round. Johnson, who’s making his first start since testing positive for COVID-19, opened this week with a 2-over 72. He’s quickly found his form, however, and said his game now feels similar to the FedExCup Playoffs, when he finished 1st-2nd-1st to claim his first FedExCup.

Having two of the world’s top players in pursuit always makes for a stressful Sunday, but beating Woods gives Burns confidence entering the final round.

“That day really challenged me,” he said of his round with Woods at the Honda. “I think it was good for me to see that I was capable of being able to do that in a pressure-packed situation like that. Tomorrow’s a similar situation.”

SECOND ROUND

HOUSTON — Jason Day was back in contention after two eventful days alongside Phil Mickelson.

Winless in 2 1/2 years and fighting lingering back and neck problems, Day shot a 2-under 68 on Friday in the Vivint Houston Open to pull within two strokes of second-round leader Sam Burns at difficult Memorial Park.

The Australian watched the 50-year-old Michelson hit into the water twice en route to an 8 on the par-3 ninth, then hole out from 193 yards for eagle on the par-4 18th. Lefty missed the cut, following an opening 76 with a 73.

“He kind of left himself in some pretty tough positions and you’re just struggling the whole day,” Day said. “It’s one of those courses where you’ve just got to be patient and try to get your birdies when you can.”

Day had three birdies and a bogey.

“It’s one of those courses where you can walk off kind of shaking your head even though you play some good golf,” Day said. “I was chatting to Phil about that on the second hole today because he went out there and hit a nice 9-iron, pulled up short, rolled away off the green and you’ve got a 60-footer putting back up that hill. It’s one of those golf courses where it can be a little bit frustrating at times, so just got to kind of be smart about it.”

Day was in contention three weeks ago in Las Vegas in THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK when the neck problem forced him to withdraw early in the final round. The 12-time PGA TOUR winner returned the next week at Sherwood to tie for 60th, and took last week off.

“It’s been very inconsistent, obviously, because I’m trying to change my swing a little bit just to try and help the back out,” Day said. “I guess I’m stuck in between patterns right now, what I want to feel, my body just won’t handle it and sometimes it just compensates elsewhere. That’s why it happened to my neck at CJ.”

Burns birdied all three par-5 holes in a bogey-free 65 to reach 7 under.

“It takes a lot of discipline around here,” Burns said. “You get out of position, you just try to get it back to where you can get it up-and-down or get it in a section of the green where you can lag putt it. Fortunately, early we got some good looks and I was able to convert, so solid.”

Winless on the PGA TOUR, the 24-year-old Burns also took a two-shot lead into the weekend in the season-opening Safeway Open in September. He ended up tying for seventh that week at Silverado.

“I think slowing down a little bit, really talking through the shot with Travis (caddie Perkins) and making sure we have a clear picture of what we’re trying to do,” Burns said. “I think that was really helpful to learn that.”

Carlos Ortiz of Mexico had a 68 to match Day at 5 under.

First-round leader Brandt Snedeker followed his opening 65 with a 71 to drop into a tie for fourth at 4 under with Dawie van der Walt (66), Corey Conners (67), Aaron Wise (66) and Patton Kizzire (67).

“Didn’t drive it as good today as I did yesterday and that’s going to put you behind the 8-ball here,” Snedeker said.

Top-ranked Dustin Johnson followed an opening 72 with a 66 to get to 2 under in his return after a positive coronavirus test knocked him out of THE CJ CUP and ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP.

“It was very solid today,” Johnson said. “ I felt like I played pretty well yesterday, just a little rusty. … I swung it pretty well, just hit a couple bad iron shots. But I think that was more just from not trusting what I was doing, just from not being out there. But today did a lot better, hit a lot of really nice iron shots and felt like I managed my game very well, drove it well, hit a lot of quality shots.”

The tournament — at public Memorial Park for the first time since 1963 — is the first domestic PGA TOUR event to have fans since March. Tickets are capped at 2,000 a day.

Brooks Koepka was 2 over after a 70 on the course where he served as a consultant on architect Tom Doak’s renovation. Koepka’s playing for the second time since a two-month layoff to heal injuries.

Jordan Spieth, playing alongside Koepka, missed the cut with rounds of 73 and 71.

FIRST ROUND

HOUSTON — Brandt Snedeker found a lot of fairways and greens at difficult Memorial Park, top-ranked Dustin Johnson returned from the coronavirus, and fans were back, too, Thursday at the Vivint Houston Open.

Snedeker shot a 5-under 65 in the afternoon to take a two-stroke lead in the last event before the Masters. He’s one of 37 players in the field this week set to play at Augusta National.

“Drove it great,” Snedeker said. “Around this golf course you have to be in the fairway, otherwise it’s going to be a long day for you. Did a great job of that. Made some putts. And the par 5s, birdied every par 5 out there. This course is a long, tough golf course, so to play well you need to take advantage of the scoring holes, which I did a great job of today.”

The tournament — at public Memorial Park for the first time since 1963 — is limiting ticket sales to 2,000 a day. It’s the first domestic PGA TOUR event to have fans since THE PLAYERS Championship on March 12.

“I think that’s a big reason why I played well today,” Snedeker said. “I love having fans out here. I kind of feed off their energy. It’s great to hear some claps and people excited for good shots and some birdies.”

Johnson had a 72 — bogeying five of the last seven holes on his front nine — in his return after a positive coronavirus test knocked him out of THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK and the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD.

The 39-year-old Snedeker won the last of his nine PGA TOUR titles in 2018. He followed a birdie on the par-4 13th with a bogey on the par-4 14th after driving into the right rough, then birdied the par-3 15th and par-5 16th.

“I’ve been driving it well, so it just kind of depended how I hit my irons and kind of hung in there,” Snedeker said. “Did a great job of kind of thinking my way around the golf course.”

Jason Day was tied for second with Scottie Scheffler, Harold Varner III, Carlos Ortiz, Michael Thompson and Cameron Davis.

“The golf course kind of forces you into being patient just because you can’t really miss too many greens,” Scheffler said. “Around the greens out here is very, very difficult to get up-and-down and you can get into some spots where you start playing ping pong across these greens.”

Brooks Koepka also had a 72. He’s playing for the second time since a two-month layoff to heal injuries. Player partner Lanto Griffin, the winner last year at Golf Club of Houston, also shot 72. Jordan Spieth rounded out the morning threesome with a 72.

“It certainly felt more normal as we were playing today and especially as we were finishing up,” Spieth said about the fans. “Just the look of it is way more normal than when it was just so bare.”

Koepka served as a consultant on course architect Tom Doak’s renovation.

“I think every time Jordan hit it in the water, he told me that was my fault,” Koepka said.

Phil Mickelson shot 76. He had two double bogeys and two bogeys.