By Jeff Jensen
Special to PGATOUR.com

LAS VEGAS, Nev.-- Sunday was a family day for PGA TOUR rookie Troy Matteson at the Frys.com Open. With his brother James on the bag, Matteson shot a final round 3-under par 69 to finish at 22-under par and stave off the late charging Daniel Chopra and Ben Crane and capture his first PGA TOUR victory.

“Nobody can really calm you like family, like your brother. We really have a bond; it’s always going to be there. We have been playing craps and blackjack, going to dinner, things like that and it’s been a lot of fun,” said Matteson. “He just kept talking to me, keeping me relaxed and telling me things he’s been telling me my whole life.”

During a final round that took a nearly absurd six hours to play, Matteson holed several crucial putts down the stretch that made the difference. “I’m typically a pretty good short putter and to come through on those six and seven-footers all day was pretty important,” said Matteson.

Matteson started the exhibition by draining a slick, downhill putt on 11 for a birdie that at the time gave him a three-shot lead. After stubbing his chip shot on 12, he holed a 15-footer to save par.

After a good drive at 13, Matteson had a hanging lie and decided to gamble and go at the green with a three-wood. The shot caught a large mound directly in front of him and Matteson made bogey on the otherwise benign par 5.

“I’ve been playing (No.) 13 pretty good all week and I didn’t take into account the mound in front of me. Making a bogey on a hole like that, it makes you press down the stretch,” said Matteson. “It just makes it tougher when you make a mistake like that. I should have just hit an iron and laid it up with the front pin, but hindsight is 20/20.”

The turning point of the day was at the 156-yard 14th. Charley Hoffman trailed Matteson by a shot, but rolled in a 30–foot birdie putt to tie for the lead. A former standout at UNLV, Hoffman had a boisterous gallery following him and it looked as if the momentum might have gone to his corner. Cool and collected, Matteson stepped up and put a 10-foot birdie right on top of Hoffman to regain the lead.

“He made a bunch of good putts all day long, you name it, he made it,” said Hoffman referring to Matteson’s day on the greens.

At the par-5 16th, Hoffman’s hopes came to an end when his 6-iron approach shot found a watery grave. Matteson then stepped up and laced a 211-yard five-iron to the back of the green. He calmly two-putted from there to take a one-shot lead over Ben Crane who was playing two groups ahead and rapidly closing with a final round 65.

On 18, after playing partner Daniel Chopra, who had eagled 16 and birdied 17 to close within a shot missed his birdie putt for a closing round 66, all that was left was a simple two-putt to claim his first TOUR victory.

“I told my brother to make sure we looked at the board because we hadn’t really looked at it all day,” said Matteson. “The first putt, I’m just trying not to knock it into the lake. I’m just glad the second putt was only 8 or 9 inches. I can normally handle those.”

For the 26-year-old Matteson who came into the event ranked 143rd on the money list, the win was worth $720,000 and a two-year exemption on TOUR.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling, I don’t really think it’s hit me yet,” said Matteson. “It will probably hit me sometime tomorrow. I didn’t picture myself winning an event this year.”