HOUSTON — Consider 118 a lucky number for Carlos Ortiz.

The veteran from Guadalajara, Mexico, needed that many PGA Tour events to finally capture his first victory, but it was a special one — his 65 on Sunday was enough to edge Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama and capture the Vivint Houston Open.

Ortiz had been showing signs he was ready to break through, making three cuts in five starts this season, but he’d yet to crack the top 30 in any of those events. He came into Houston ranked 160th in the Official World Golf Ranking (and 136 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings), but looked surprisingly comfortable as he fired a bogey-free 65 on Sunday to finish the tournament at 13 under.

“It’s unbelievable the way this feels. I played great and it was challenging at the end. I saw there’s a couple people playing really good, too, so I knew I couldn’t just like lay it up to the greens and then expect to win so I had to finish strong,” said Ortiz, who became the third Mexican-born player to win on the PGA Tour. “I hit an amazing shot on 16 and obviously finishing with this birdie helped, too. I’m really happy and pleased the way I played.”

While others slipped on the back nine, Ortiz seemed to gain strength there, and he finished in convincing style — burying a 22-foot putt for birdie to seal the deal on the 18th hole.

“Finishing with the putt on 18 felt amazing,” he said. “I felt like I hit the ball unbelievable today, and I didn’t really make any putts other than those two and finally I made one at the end and it was a great feeling.”

Meanwhile, Johnson’s goal was to get his game in top gear after a lengthy COVID quarantine and with the Masters approaching quickly on the horizon. Consider his motor up and running.

The World No. 1 missed a few chances down the stretch, but he proved he’s ready to contend for his first green jacket next week. Johnson shot a 65, although he did miss chances on Nos. 16 and 17 that would have pulled him even with Ortiz.

Hideki Matsuyama didn’t look like he’d be a threat to break a long drought after posting two rounds of even-par to open the tournament, but after a 66 on Saturday, he was aggressive all Sunday in pulling into a tie for the lead.

Matsuyama, who last won at the 2017 WGC-FedEx St. Jude, barely missed a putt on No. 18 that would have forced the issue, but he still finished with a course-record 63 (one of three) to finish at 11 under.

“You know, my game is getting better and it’s definitely going to give
me a lot of confidence going forward,” Matsuyama said. “My good finish over the weekend is going to really hopefully help me in the Masters this week coming up.”

The tournament marked the first time the PGA Tour has played at the municipally run Memorial Park since 1963. Architect Tom Doak was the front man for a $34 million renovation funded through a foundation headed by Houston Astros’ owner Jim Crane.

Brooks Koepka, who was a consultant on the renovation, made an early Sunday run with a 30 on the front, but he cooled just a tad on the back and posted a second straight 65 to finish the tournament at 8 under.

Although Koepka said earlier in the week he hadn’t been interested in becoming a course designer, he was pleased with the results.

“It turned out better than I could have imagined. I love the fact there’s so many different options from different tee boxes. You don’t always have to play it off the back tee of the back of the tee box, you’ve got different tee options for different pin locations,” Koepka said. “You can move holes up, you can lengthen them if you want. There’s so many options and that’s why I think this place has turned out better than I thought it would.”

Meanwhile, 54-hold leader Sam Burns saw his hopes of capturing his first PGA Tour title dashed early. Burns opened the day with a bogey, then added a double on No. 4 to drop off the top of the leaderboard. He finished T-7, six strokes behind Ortiz.