World No 1 Jon Rahm had closed to within two shots of Mexico Open leader Tony Finau after a sensational, bogey-free 10-under round of 61 on Saturday, but Finau proved too strong in the final round, finishing with a five-under round of 65, which saw him round off the tournament on 24 under
Monday 1 May 2023 16:12, UK
Tony Finau showed superb consistency to hold off the charge of Jon Rahm and claim the PGA Tour Mexico Open title by three shots on Sunday, finishing on 24 under.
World No 1 Rahm had closed to within two shots of leader Finau after a sensational, bogey-free 10-under round of 61 on Saturday, but the USA's Finau proved too strong on the final day, finishing with a five-under round of 66.
The 33-year-old denied this year's Masters champion a second straight title at the relatively new PGA Tour stop at Vidanta Vallarta. His impressive final-day display followed previous rounds of 65, 64 and 65 to leave him victorious, three shots ahead of defending champion Rahm and five ahead of compatriot Brandon Wu.
"[Rahm] is the best - he's on top of the world right now," Finau, who will move up five spots to No 11 in the Official World Golf Ranking, said. "I knew I was gonna have my hands full with him all the way to the end."
Finau birdied the par-four first hole and the par-four fifth. Rahm responded with his first birdie of the day at the par-five sixth while Finau parred, and both made birdie at the par-four seventh.
It was all pars until Finau scored again at the par-three 11th, sticking his first shot to within nine feet of the pin. By then he was out of reach and although Rahm was active late, adding three birdies and a bogey, he never got close enough to make things interesting.
"It's a great reminder that what you've done means absolutely nothing, you still have to go out there and do it," Rahm said. "It's also good so you don't think too much of yourself, right?
"Like, obviously I wanted to win, but it's a reminder that everybody out here is a great player and Tony came out with a two-shot lead and played fantastic golf.
"I feel like had I been able to pressure him a little more, we would have seen more birdies from Tony."
Finau previously won the Houston Open in November. Sunday marked his sixth career PGA Tour win, five of them coming in the past 20 months.
"I didn't know this golf tournament was mine until I just hit this [18th] green here," Finau said. "It's crazy how this game is. You never think you have a tournament won until it's over."
Wu shot a three-under 68 on Sunday to take third place at 19 under. Akshay Bhatia (70 on Sunday) was fourth at 18 under, and Eric Cole (66), Austin Smotherman (67) and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo (65) tied for fifth at 16 under.
Another Argentine, Alejandro Tosti, entered the week ranked No. 444 in the world but made two eagles Sunday and shot a final-round 64 to soar into a tie for 10th at 13 under, enough to qualify for next week's Wells Fargo.
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