Wichita’s Sam Stevens grinds to season-best PGA Tour finish in Houston Open
Sam Stevens didn’t bring his best swing to Texas this past weekend.
He brought something else that might matter more this time of year: patience, discipline and just enough shot-making to stay in the fight.
That formula carried the 29-year-old Wichita native to the best finish of his 2026 PGA Tour season. Stevens closed with a 3-under 67 on Sunday to finish alone in fifth place at the Houston Open at 14-under 266, capping one of the steadiest four-round performances of his year. Gary Woodland, the former Topeka standout, won the tournament at 21-under 259 for his fifth career PGA Tour title.
For Stevens, a 2014 Kapaun Mt. Carmel graduate, the result was more than just another solid week. It was his second top-10 finish in his first nine starts of the 2026 season, his seventh career top-5 finish on tour and his biggest payday of the year at $405,900. He has now made eight cuts in nine starts and climbed to No. 38 in the FedExCup standings with 357 points.
What made the performance stand out to Stevens was how hard he felt he had to work for it.
“I thought I did a really good job mentally of just kind of dealing with the fact that I didn’t have my A-game,” Stevens said. “When I got a little flustered, I did a good job of trusting my short game. Those areas of my game have been strengths in the past, but they haven’t been that good so far this year. So the fact that I was able do that this week was great.”
That may be the clearest sign yet of Stevens’ growth on tour. The scores were remarkably consistent — 67, 65, 67 and 67 — but he said the week never quite felt as comfortable as the leaderboard suggested. Instead of overpowering the course with elite ball-striking, he pieced together a top-5 finish with composure and recovery.
Sunday offered a snapshot of that grind.
Stevens finished with a flourish on the back nine. On the par-4 13th, he nearly drove the green with a 306-yard tee shot, then chipped to 15 inches for a stress-free birdie. On the par-5 16th, he uncorked a 334-yard drive, reached the green in two and cozied a 64-foot putt to tap-in range for another birdie. Those late birdies helped lock down sole possession of fifth and put an exclamation point on a week in which he never shot worse than 67.
The finish continued what has become the best season of Stevens’ professional career. After ending last season 50th in the FedExCup standings, Stevens has climbed to 38th this spring. He is also up to No. 44 in the Official World Golf Ranking, another marker of how firmly he has established himself since earned his tour card in 2022. He is now tracking as legitimately one of the best players in the world.
That momentum is arriving at just the right time. Stevens will take this coming week off before making his first career start at the Masters, scheduled for April 9-12 at Augusta National. A top-five finish heading into Augusta is about as strong a final tune-up as he could have asked for, especially one built on mental steadiness rather than a fleeting hot streak.
But before he could turn his attention to what’s next, Stevens paid homage to another Kansas native.
Woodland, who starred at Shawnee Heights and later Washburn, finished off an emotional victory in Houston for his first PGA Tour win in nearly seven years. Stevens said it was meaningful to watch another Kansas golfer finish the job on one of the tour’s bigger stages, particularly given Woodland’s long road back. Woodland’s win came after his 2023 brain surgery and ongoing battle with post-traumatic stress disorder, adding another layer to an already powerful comeback.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s awesome. He’s a Kansas guy, I’m a Kansas guy,” Stevens said. “I remember Valspar was his first win. I think I was in eighth grade. That was pretty cool. There’s not a whole lot of golfers from Kansas so to see him overcome what he’s overcome is really cool and to go out the last two days with the lead and just put the pedal down especially with what he’s been dealing with is pretty impressive.”
Woodland’s rise has long served as a model for younger Kansas golfers trying to imagine themselves on the same stage. Stevens admitted he was one of them.
“He’s been a big inspiration,” Stevens said. “I have friends up in Topeka, the kids at Topeka Country Club love him, I know that. I think there’s some good golfers coming out of Kansas, myself included, who looked up to Gary and I think he’s a big reason why we have a little faith in ourselves to go out and play really well.”
This story was originally published March 30, 2026 at 7:04 AM.
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