Novak wins Mexico Open by five for first solo PGA TOUR title

Andrew Novak’s 259 at Vidanta Vallarta is the lowest 72-hole total in the VidantaWorld Mexico Open’s history, one better than Tony Finau’s 260 in 2023, and it won him the tournament by five shots on Sunday. A closing 69 left him on −25, ahead of Steven Fisk and Kristoffer Ventura, who both closed with 63s. It is Novak’s first individual PGA TOUR title, in his 140th start on the tour. His only other win came with Ben Griffin at the 2025 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Novak won $1,080,000 and 500 FedExCup points, which lift him from 89th to 53rd in the FedExCup Fall standings.

Lead cut to three at the 10th

Novak started Sunday six clear. At the par-5 3rd his second shot plugged in the lip of a bunker and he made par. He also missed two birdie chances from inside 10 feet on the front nine. “I played really well on the front and didn’t get much out of it,” he said. A bogey at the 10th then cut his lead to three over Fisk and Ventura.

At the par-5 12th he splashed out of a greenside bunker to four feet and holed the putt. He birdied the 13th, which this year’s new routing turned into a drivable par 4, from 15 feet, then made a 45-footer at the 14th. “That kind of really settled everything,” Novak said.

He came to Mexico 158th on the tour in strokes gained putting, having gone back to an old T.P. Mills putter model in August, according to GOLF.com. Over the four rounds he holed 53 of 58 putts from inside 10 feet, including all 37 in the first three rounds, according to Golf Today.

Final leaderboard

Pos	Player	To par	R4	Total	Earnings
1	Andrew Novak	−25	69	259	$1,080,000
T2	Steven Fisk	−20	63	264	$534,000
T2	Kristoffer Ventura	−20	63	264	$534,000
T4	Mackenzie Hughes	−19	66	265	$270,000
T4	Ben Griffin	−19	67	265	$270,000
T6	Erik van Rooyen	−18	64	266	$189,300
T6	Brian Campbell	−18	66	266	$189,300
T6	Tom Kim	−18	66	266	$189,300
T6	Pierceson Coody	−18	68	266	$189,300
T6	Doug Ghim	−18	69	266	$189,300

Ventura, who was born in Mexico and plays for Norway, began the week 108th in the FedExCup Fall standings. Only the top 100 keep full cards for 2027. Second place, his best individual finish on the tour, takes him to 76th. Fisk’s 63 matched his lowest round on the tour, and his share of second moved him from 70th to 54th. Mackenzie Hughes climbed from 118th to 101st, one place outside the top 100, with three events left. “Gives me a bit of momentum for the last three,” he said.

Doug Ghim, in the final group, played his last five holes in three over, with a double bogey at the 18th, and dropped into a share of sixth. Matthieu Pavon, second after 54 holes, shot 71 and tied for 11th at −17. The amateur Kihei Akina closed with a 69 to finish 15th.

A two-year exemption and a 2028 Championship Series place

The win exempts Novak for two seasons and puts him in the Championship Series, the top tier of the tour’s new structure, in 2028. He is also all but certain of places in the $20 million Signature Events at Pebble Beach and Riviera next year, according to the Associated Press. “It absolutely changes things for me,” he said. “The opportunity I’m going to have is not what I had when I showed up Monday this week.”

The FedExCup Fall moves on to the World Wide Technology Championship at El Cardonal at Diamante, Cabo San Lucas, from 5 to 8 November, the second of the tour’s two weeks in Mexico. Every round from Vidanta Vallarta is on our tournament hub.

Sources

• PGA TOUR: Official leaderboard, VidantaWorld Mexico Open
• The Golf News Net: 2026 VidantaWorld Mexico Open final results and prize money
• Golf Today: Mexico Open 2026, Andrew Novak wins by five shots
• ABC News (AP): Andrew Novak sails to a 5-shot win in the Mexico Open
• ESPN: Andrew Novak takes Mexico Open for 1st individual PGA Tour title
• GOLF.com: Andrew Novak’s Mexico Open win gave him a priceless gift