Carlos Ortiz Secures Individual Title at LIV Golf Houston

Carlos Ortiz won LIV Golf’s Houston 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 stroke ahead of Adrian Meronk. Houston-area resident Patrick Reed tied for third with David Puig at 13 under.

"I love playing here," Ortiz said. "Obviously Texas treats me well. It's my adopted home state. I'm just happy to get it done again in Houston."

After gaining separation from the rest of the pack, Ortiz and Meronk found themselves in a duel for most of the back nine. 

Tied going into the par-four 15th, Ortiz birdied the hole while Meronk bogeyed it after finding trouble off the tee and having to take a penalty drop. Ortiz bogeyed the 18th hole after missing his only green of the day, but Meronk’s birdie attempt slipped past the cup.

"He played unbelievable, and he put pressure all the way to the end," Ortiz said of Meronk. "It was a good battle."

"He played really great," Meronk said of Ortiz. "He really deserved it. I hope I can get him next time."

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

"That's what's cool about LIV, to have three other guys with you on the team," Meronk said. "Even if you don't win or you don't perform as you want individually, you still have that team standings."

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 at the 2010 Eisenhower Trophy and again in 2012, when Mexico were runners-up.

Ortiz turned professional in 2013. He finished T-15 at the Web.com Tour qualifying school after playing in the first, second and final stages. 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 inside the top 200 in the world rankings.

He was given a sponsor exemption to compete in the 2014 Memorial, where he finished in a tie for 65th on his PGA Tour debut. He won his third Web.com event of the season at the Portland Open, earning fully exempt 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 PGA Tour season, Ortiz finished 93rd in the FedEx Cup and had a season-best finish of T9 at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. 

He lost his place on the 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 in 113th place in the FedEx Cup standings, with a best finish of tied third at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

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

He now plies 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 gets up and down from 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.