PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – It wasn’t easy, but you can’t argue with the results.

Matt Kuchar survived some shaky play down the stretch and rattled in a par putt from just inside three feet on 18 to shoot a final-round 69 for a one-stroke victory over Danny Lee (65) at the Mayakoba Golf Classic on Sunday.

J.J. Spaun (66) and Richy Werenski (67) tied for third, three back.

“It feels extra sweet having kind of had to suffer through a year of not playing great in 2018,” said Kuchar, whose last victory before today came at the 2014 RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, South Carolina. “Being four years removed since my last victory I realize how difficult it is to win on the PGA TOUR.”

With the win, Kuchar earned a spot in a handful of prestigious tournaments, first on the calendar being the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January.

With his regular caddie, John Wood, at a reunion, Kuchar won with a club caddie, David “Toucan” Ortiz, who had been assigned to him by the tournament director. Ortiz, a father of two from Playa del Carmen who caddies every day at El Camaleon Golf Club, was in tears as he accepted congratulations and rolled up the flag on 18 as a souvenir.

Although he went into Sunday with a four-shot lead, and kept a nice cushion for much of the day, Kuchar bogeyed the 14th and 15th holes, missing putts inside 10 and 5 feet, respectively, to make it close. With Lee on his heels, he closed with three pars to win.

The last one might have been the hardest. With mud on the back of his ball, which sat on the front fringe, he wasn’t sure how hard to hit it. He guessed mostly right, and the ball rolled to a stop nearly three feet short. It was a straight putt, but felt like a very long three feet.

“I certainly made it exciting coming in,” said Kuchar, who moves to fifth in the FedExCup. “It wasn’t the finish I was hoping for; I would have liked to have been able to five- or six-putt that final green. Winning out here is so difficult. The strength of field every week is awfully good.”

This week marked a return to form for a player who was used to being in the upper echelon but had fallen off. Kuchar was 76th in the FedExCup last season after being in the top 20 for eight straight years. He missed cuts, which he said was “not in my vocabulary” and “extremely frustrating.” He missed the TOUR Championship. He turned 40.

