Carlos Ortiz acknowledges the gallery as he walks up to the 18th green Sunday during the final round of the Houston Open. Ortiz, who played college golf in Texas, became the first Mexican winner on the PGA Tour since 1978. Eric Christian Smith/Associated Press

HOUSTON — Carlos Ortiz held off Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama by closing with a 5-under 65 to win the Houston Open on Sunday, becoming the first Mexican to win on the PGA Tour in 42 years.

He earned every bit of it, caught in a tight battle on the back nine with the world’s No. 1 player and Japan’s biggest star. Ortiz delivered the winner with a 6-iron to 8 feet on the par-5 16th. He had to settle for a two-putt birdie, and it held up when Johnson and Matsuyama narrowly missed birdie chances coming in.

Ortiz finished in style. Needing two putts to win, the 29-year-old holed a 20-foot birdie putt for a two-shot victory.

Ortiz held back tears as he waited for his playing partners to putt. The victory sends him to the Masters next April. He was there a year ago to watch his brother, Alvaro, who qualified by winning the Latin American Amateur.

“It feels awesome,” said Ortiz, who grew up in Guadalajara and played at North Texas with Sebastian Munoz of Colombia, the most recent Latin American winner on tour. “This is like my second home. There was a bunch of people cheering for me, Latinos and Texans. I’m thankful for all of them.”

It was the loudest cheer for a winner since March. The Houston Open was the first domestic PGA Tour event that allowed spectators, with 2,000 tickets sold daily. They were treated to a good show.

The last Mexican-born player to win was Victor Regelado, who captured the Quad Cities Open in 1978.

Johnson was making his first start since the U.S. Open after a positive coronavirus test knocked him out of the CJ Cup and the Zozo Championship.

After opening with a 72, Johnson rallied with two rounds of 66 and a closing 65. His one regret would be the 16th hole. Tied for the lead, Johnson fanned a 7-iron for his second shot on the par 5, leaving a tough chip to 18 feet and a birdie putt that grazed the left edge of the cup.

Johnson had another birdie putt catch the lip on the next hole.

Matsuyama briefly tied for the lead with birdies on the 16th and 17th, making a 15-footer on the 17th just moments before Ortiz made his birdie on the 16th.

Ortiz finished at 13-under 267.

Sam Burns, the 54-hole leader, had a 72 and Jason Day closed with a 71. Neither was a factor for much of the day. This was about Ortiz holding off two players with plenty of experience winning and tasting it for the first time.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: The season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix will end on Monday after Kevin Sutherland and Paul Broadhurst traded pars through six playoff holes in near darkness.

Broadhurst erased a six-shot deficit with a bogey-free 63 in the season finale for the over-50 tour, which won’t crown a champion until next year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sutherland closed with a birdie on the par-5 18th hole to shoot a 2-under 69.

Broadhurst and Sutherland finished at 15-under 198.

CYPRUS SHOWDOWN: Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre produced a brilliant finish to claim his first European Tour title in Paphos, Cyprus.

MacIntyre birdied four of his last six holes at Aphrodite Hills Resort to card a 7-under 64 and finish a shot ahead of Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura.

MacIntyre, 24, was inches away from a hole-in-one on the 17th and tapped in for birdie to briefly take the outright lead before Kawamura birdied the 18th to complete a 65.

That left MacIntyre needing to birdie on the par-5 18th to win, and the left-hander followed a perfect drive with a solid approach before safely two-putting from 20 feet to secure victory.