Jason Kokrak, with Three Wins in 13 Months, has Found the Winning Formula

The shot the 2021 Houston Open champion elected not to hit on No. 16 Sunday was nearly as important as all the ones he did hit, writes Morning Read's Dan O'Neill.

Bruce Crampton once said golf is “a compromise between what your ego wants you to do, what experience tells you to do, and what your nerves let you do.”

The Australian, who turned 86 a couple of weeks ago, won 14 times on the PGA Tour. But some players, outstanding players, never find that compromise.

Jason Kokrak searched for 10 years and 233 tournaments before he finally mastered it, winning the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in October, 2020. Since then, he’s won two more times in 26 starts, in just over a year.

“It’s very special,” said Kokrak, after he closed out his third PGA Tour win at the Houston Open on Sunday.

A number of intriguing stories were on display in the final round at Memorial Park. Often there is at this time of year, at this stage of the schedule when many of the more successful members of the golf profession take time off.

For instance, Scottie Scheffler had the lead at one point in the finial round, and he seemed a logical winner. After all, Scheffler has “Ryder Cup” on his resume, beating Jon Rahm in singles and sparking the recent U.S. triumph.

But the international face time notwithstanding, Scheffler still doesn’t have a PGA Tour win in the portfolio, and he faded on the back nine of a demanding Memorial Park Golf Course. The search for compromise continues.

Martin Trainer has a rags-to-riches flavor to his bio. Trainer won the Puerto Rico Open as a rookie in 2019. He is from Marseille, France, which means he can curse in French, a handy skill to have around American green-side microphones.

But Trainer hasn’t won again. In fact, if not for the pandemic and a one-year grace period, he wouldn’t have a card. In Houston, he played on the weekend for only the 10th time in his last 71 starts.

Yet, with five holes to play, he had a two-shot lead and headline writers salivating. He bogeyed No. 14, then bogeyed two more before he could get in. The compromise didn’t hold. Sacre Bleu!

Luke List was another underdog on the scent. List is 36, been at this a while now, has two Korn Ferry wins and came within a playoff loss of winning the 2018 Honda Classic. He was in the mix in Houston, but he played the last five holes at 3-over. That won’t get ‘er done.

Kevin Tway is 33. His dad, Bob Tway, has eight PGA Tour wins. Kevin captured the 2018 Safeway Open to make the father-son tandem one of 10 in PGA Tour history to have wins. Kevin made a birdie at 13 and then another at 18. He gave himself a chance.

But Kokrak had ego, experience and nerves all working for him, all at once. He demonstrated it coming from two shots back with six holes to play. He emphasized it by making four birdies in the midst of the back nine. He showed it in spades after moving into the lead.

One of the longer hitters on the circuit, Kokrak was a nice fit for the 7,400 yards of Memorial. And with the lead, was a good bet to go for the kill on the long par-5 16th.

But after a 315-yard drive, Kokrak didn’t like the spot of mud on his ball from 268 yards out. He checked his ego, leaned on experience and calmly played safe. He hit a 148-yard layup, put a wedge three feet and rolled it in for his fourth straight birdie. He led by two, and he wasn’t coming back.

“I picked and choose where I wanted to be,” he said. “I really wanted to go for the par 5, but laid it up and made birdie nonetheless.”

At 18, Kokrak had the Zen to finish things off, land his 157-yard approach seven feet below the hole and two-putt for par. He walked off the green acting like he’d been there before. That’s the thing about the compromise in golf. Once you find it, you have been there before.

Keep in mind, Kokrak was 10 shots off the lead with 36 holes to play. On Saturday morning, he returned to complete his darkness-delayed second round and made a mess of things, playing the last seven holes in 7-over par.

But a day later, he was back in the hunt, shooting a final-round 65 and winning his third PGA Tour victory.

As Crampton would no doubt agree, the compromise is a constant battle. Kokrak had not done much since winning the Charles Schwab Challenge in late May. More recently, he had missed three cuts in six starts and finished 54th at the CJ Cup at Summit.

But when he arrived in Houston, he got some help from swing coach Drew Steckel, some support from caddie David Robinson, and got himself back into contention.

“It’s special because I was really struggling with my game at the beginning of this week,” Kokrak acknowledged. “I got on the phone with my swing coach. I had my earbuds in doing a little playing lesson while he’s in my ear, and D-Rob is videoing.

“I owe a lot to D-Rob, reading the greens and keeping me in it, keeping my head right, which is very tough to do sometimes.”

That’s the thing about the compromise, it’s always there, if you can just find it.