Johnson Wagner was watching highlights from the 2002 Masters late Saturday night, and his wife scolded him for it.
Now, he has the chance to create some Augusta moments of his own.
Wagner won the Houston Open on Sunday for his first PGA Tour victory and got the ultimate bonus prize that comes with it—a spot next week in the Masters.
“Sounds funny, you know, even saying it,” Wagner said. “I don’t care if I shoot 90 both days and miss the cut. I’m so excited to be there and it’s just a dream come true.”
The 28-year-old Wagner shot a 1-under 71 to finish at 16 under, two shots ahead of Chad Campbell (72) and Geoff Ogilvy (68). Billy Mayfair and Fred Couples shot 66s and finished three shots back at 13 under. Bob Estes and Charley Hoffman, three behind Wagner at the start of the round, had 72s that left them four behind.
Wagner had missed six cuts in nine previous starts this year and was ranked 193rd on the money list when he arrived in Houston. He matched defending champion Adam Scott’s course-record 63 in the first round, then held the 36- and 54-hole leads at an event for the first time in 44 career starts.
Wagner tried to relax on Saturday night by watching the Final Four. After the games, he flipped to the Masters highlights and started imagining what it would be like to actually play there.
His wife, Katie, returned from a walk and chastised him for even thinking about Augusta before Sunday’s round.
“I thought to myself, that’s a good point,” Wagner said. “We hadn’t talked about it all week and I’m so glad nobody brought it up to me that’s close to me. Nobody said, ‘Hey, if you win, can I get a ticket to the Masters?’
“It really helped me focus on not focusing on it.”
But it was there, in the back of his mind, and his emotions showed all day. Sweat soaked through his green shirt and he nervously wiped his hands with a white towel before most of his shots.
Wagner said he sweats all the time when he plays, but conceded that his stomach were churning as he tried to close out the victory.
“I was freaked out all today and yesterday,” Wagner said. “Warming up on the range (Sunday morning), I was very nervous but still tried to stay calm and breathe, just all day.”
Wagner held it together, pumping his fist after sinking a 6-foot par putt on the 72nd hole as his parents, wife and several family members cheered from behind the green.
While Wagner will play in his first Masters, Davis Love III will miss a major for the first time since 1990. Love had to win to qualify for Augusta, but he finished at 5 under, ending the longest active streak of major appearances at 70.
Phil Mickelson now holds the longest run of major starts, with 55. Mickelson shot a second straight 71 on Sunday and finished at 6 under in his final tuneup before Augusta.
“It was a good week for me to identify what I need to work on and find out what areas don’t feel great,” Mickelson said. “My chipping and putting aren’t where they need to be. Fortunately, I can spend extra time on it now, the next couple of days leading into the Masters.”
This day belonged to Wagner, the 13th player to earn his first victory in Houston.
He started one ahead of Campbell, then opened a three-shot lead when he sank a 26-foot birdie on the second hole and Campbell three-putted. Wagner led by five after a birdie on the fourth. Campbell hit into the fairway bunker off the tee and bogeyed again.
Campbell drove into the fairway bunker on No. 8, then dumped his second shot into the water, leading to a crippling double bogey. Wagner birdied again to get to 17 under.
Ogilvy birdied Nos. 3, 5 and 8 to move into second place, but Wagner led by four at the turn.
Couples, the 2003 champion when the tournament was played at the members’ course across the street, was one of several players who mounted charges on the back nine.
Wagner bogeyed the 10th and Couples and Mayfair both birdied 13 and 15, the last two par 5s, to move to 13 under, tying Ogilvy. Campbell bounced back with three straight birdies on 11, 12 and 13 to get to 14 under. Estes also birdied the 11th and 12th to reach 14 under.
But Wagner hung on, as the players chasing him stalled, one after another.
Wagner left a long birdie putt short on the par-4 17th, but he calmly sank the 11-footer to stay at 16 under. He drove his last tee shot into the fairway bunker, avoiding the ominous pond that runs down the left side of the 18th hole.
“It’s not where I wanted to hit it,” he said. “It was the safe alternative to the big lake on the left.”
Wagner became the second wire-to-wire winner since the tournament moved to the Tournament Course at Redstone in 2006. Stuart Appleby led from the start when he won in 2006.
Shell Houston Open Scores 272 Johnson Wagner 63 69 69 71
274 Chad Campbell 73 64 65 72, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 67 73 66 68
275 Billy Mayfair 72 68 69 66, Fred Couples 73 69 67 66
276 Charley Hoffman 65 70 69 72, Bob Estes 71 69 64 72
278 Pat Perez 69 73 72 64, Kevin Sutherland 70 70 71 67, Jason Day (Aus) 73 71 69 65
279 Steve Stricker 66 76 66 71, Bart Bryant 69 74 66 70, KJ Choi (Kor) 74 66 69 70
280 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 72 72 65 71, Lucas Glover 69 69 70 72, Jeff Quinney 72 68 70 70, Ryan Armour 73 69 67 71, Steve Elkington (Aus) 67 74 69 70, Kevin Streelman 72 69 70 69
281 Dean Wilson 67 75 70 69, Ben Crane 74 65 70 72, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 71 64 72 74
282 Phil Mickelson 72 68 71 71, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 70 72 68 72, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 70 70 72 70
283 John Merrick 71 69 72 71, Davis Love III 69 72 69 73, Joe Ogilvie 74 68 70 71, Kevin Na 76 68 68 71, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 69 70 73 71, J J Henry 69 72 71 71, Shaun Micheel 71 72 71 69, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 71 73 71 68
284 Robert Allenby (Aus) 75 68 69 72, Anders Hansen (Den) 69 71 75 69, Chez Reavie 70 71 70 73
285 Scott Sterling 70 71 73 71, Nicholas Thompson 69 70 78 68
286 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 73 70 72 71, Justin Leonard 68 76 71 71, Omar Uresti 68 76 69 73, Tim Herron 72 70 72 72, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 72 72 72 70, John Riegger 71 70 69 76, Kenneth Ferrie (Eng) 75 69 71 71, Frank Lickliter II 75 67 72 72
287 Jeff Overton 71 71 69 76, Marco Dawson 72 72 70 73, Mark Hensby (Aus) 70 74 73 70, Ben Curtis 69 72 72 74, J.L. Lewis 72 72 72 71, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 73 69 71 74, Charles Howell III 71 72 71 73, Michael Allen 72 71 70 74, Craig Kanada 70 71 73 73, Briny Baird 67 77 73 70
288 Michael Sim (Aus) 72 72 70 74, Martin Laird 69 71 74 74, Bubba Watson 68 72 74 74, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 72 71 73 72, Harrison Frazar 72 69 76 71
289 Charlie Wi (Kor) 71 69 77 72, Robert Garrigus 71 67 75 76, Craig Barlow 70 74 71 74, Shane Bertsch 72 69 75 73
290 Nathan Green (Aus) 74 70 72 74, Stephen Marino 71 73 72 74, Brett Quigley 68 72 68 82, Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 71 73 73 73
293 Brett Wetterich 73 70 72 78
295 Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 74 73 78
297 Justin Bolli 74 70 75 78
