After 143 starts, 40 top-10’s, and 1,975 days since his last victory, Tony Finau claimed his second PGA Tour title at the Northern Trust.
Tony Finau Wins First PGA Tour Title In 1,975 Days
We had already seen plenty of drama at Liberty National, with the final day of the event having to be moved to a Monday finish due to Storm Henri.
Despite there being no spectators present, fans at home were treated to a tense and thrilling final round which saw Tony Finau claim his first title since the 2016 Puerto Rico Open.
The 31-year-old wouldn’t make it easy though, having to get up-and-down from the greenside bunker for par at the 72nd hole to get into a playoff, before defeating Cameron Smith (opens in new tab) with a par at the first playoff hole.
“The win means everything at this point, especially in my career. There’s been a lot of work going on since the last win. I’m a completely different player and I wanted to prove this to myself more than anything else, that I can win a big golf tournament.
“We’ve got the best players in the world here and I was against the best player in the world today and I got him. Jon (Rahm) is a good friend who I knew was going to be really really hard to beat. Him and Cam were playing great and I gave it everything I had and fortunately, this time, I ended up on top.”
As a result of his victory, the American secures 2,000 FedEx Cup points and now moves to number one in the standings.
Finau had started the final round two shots back of Rahm (opens in new tab) and Smith, who shot a course record 60 on Saturday.
With two consecutive birdies at the 3rd and 4th, Finau would actually overtake Smith, with the Aussie producing a very scrappy double bogey at the par-4 5th to lose his lead.
However, an untidy finish to the front nine for both men would see world number one, Rahm, take the lead by two, as the players headed into the back.
Rahm had been looking for his first win since his US Open triumph. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
But Finau (opens in new tab) would close that gap to one, with a stunning approach shot at the…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golf Monthly RSS Feed…