Tony Finau claimed his sixth PGA Tour title and fifth in the last 20 months with a highly impressive victory in the Mexico Open.
A year after finishing runner-up to Jon Rahm at Vidanta Vallarta, Finau reversed those positions thanks to a flawless closing 66.
At 24 under par, Finau finished three shots clear of world number one Rahm, with Brandon Wu – who was joint second with Finau 12 months ago – two strokes further back in third.
4 wins in his last 18 starts 🏆@TonyFinauGolf is back in the winner's circle @MexicoOpenGolf. pic.twitter.com/vGOvN2kNjb
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 30, 2023
“It feels amazing,” Finau told CBS. “Rahmbo’s the best, he’s on top of the world right now.
“I knew I was going to have my hands full with him all the way till the end and I didn’t know this golf tournament was mine until I just hit this green (the 18th) here.
“It’s crazy how this game is, you never think you have a tournament won until it’s over so it feels great and we’re going to enjoy this one with my family.”
Rahm, who had carded a course record of 61 in round three, was chasing a fifth win of the year and the Masters champion kept his outside chance alive with a fourth birdie of the day on the 15th, only to bogey the 17th after his tee shot plugged in the bank of a greenside bunker.
Masters champion Jon Rahm finished second in defence of his Mexico Open title (Moises Castillo/AP)
Finau began the day with a two-shot lead and immediately extended it with a birdie on the first, but was caught at the top of the leaderboard when Wu followed two early birdies with an eagle on the sixth and another birdie on the next.
However, Finau responded with a birdie of his own on the short seventh and Wu’s chances effectively disappeared when he drove into the water on the 10th to run up a double bogey.
Finau birdied the 11th and 14th to give himself some welcome breathing space and parred the last four holes to round off a brilliant week.
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