Tony Finau wins Mexico Open
For the fourth time in the last nine months, Utah native Tony Finau won a PGA Tour event Sunday, claiming the Mexico Open in Puerto Vallarta in comfortable fashion over Masters winner and defending Mexico Open champion Jon Rahm.
Finau entered Sunday’s final round with a two-shot lead over Rahm and Akshay Bhatia, and thanks to a bogey-free 66, finished at 24-under for the tournament, three shots better than Rahm.
Brandon Wu made a charge early to get within a shot of Finau on the front nine before finishing at 19-under, while Bhatia finished at 18-under.
Finau’s win continues a great run he’s had since winning the 3M Open last July. He followed that up with a win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic the very next week, and then won the Houston Open in November.
This week was a great bounce-back performance for Finau, as he’s finished well out of contention in his previous six events since tying for ninth at the Farmers Insurance Open in late January.
Finau was steady throughout this week, shooting rounds of 65, 64 and 65 to give him the lead heading into Sunday’s final round.
Wu was back of the main pack but was 5-under through just seven holes in his round Sunday, putting him just one shot behind Finau.
Over the next two holes, however, Wu was 3-over, and that’s essentially all the cushion Finau needed, even with Rahm lurking.
Finau pretty much had things wrapped up as he, Rahm and Bhatia played the final holes, and Rahm bogeyed No. 17 to end any sort of realistic comeback attempt.
The win marks Finau’s sixth overall on the PGA Tour. The first came in 2016, and then he infamously didn’t win another tournament for over five years before claiming The Northern Trust in 2021.
His next victory was the 3M Open, beginning his strong play of late.
Source: Deseret News
