VALLARTA, Mexico – Tony Finau of the United States never gave Masters champion Jon Rahm of Spain or anyone else much of a chance, closing with a bogey-free round of 5-under 66 that gave him a three-shot victory in the Mexico golf Open.
Finau earned a small measure of redemption at Vallarta Vidanta, where last year he finished runner-up to Rahm by one shot.
Finau took a two-shot lead into the final round and was never seriously challenged on the back nine, AP reported.
Rahm wasn´t his biggest threat. Brandon Wu, also a runner-up last year, holed a 45-foot eagle putt on the par-5 sixth hole and made a short birdie on the next hole to briefly tie for the lead.
Finau answered with a birdie on the seventh, and then Wu fell back with a bogey from the bunker on No. 8 and a tee shot into the water on the 10th that led to double bogey. Wu shot 68 and finished third.
Rahm closed with a 67 and certainly had his chances. He was three behind Finau at the turn, but failed to birdie two of the par 5s with a poor drive on the 12th and a poor approach on the 14th that kept him from reasonable birdie chances.
Finau now has two victories this season – his other was in the Houston Open last fall – to join Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa as the only multiple winners on tour this season. He now has four PGA Tour titles in the last nine months.
Elsewhere, Hannah Green of Australia made a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole to join a three-way playoff, and then made par on the second extra hole to win the JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club.
In a wild finish that featured a five-way tie for the lead late in the final round, Green made birdie for a 2-under 69 to join Aditi Ashok of India and Xiyu Lin of China in the playoff.
Ashok, who had the 36-hole lead, and Lin each closed with a 67 and were the first to post at 9-under 275. Green and Lin birdied the first playoff hole on the par-3 18th.
On the second extra hole at No. 18, Lin hit into a bunker and blasted out to some 18 feet and missed the par putt. That left Green to tap in from 2 feet for her first LPGA win since September 2019.
Green finished second here last year and third the year before at Wilshire. She won $450,000 from the $3 million purse.
Ruoning Yin won in Los Angeles last month at the DIO Implant LA Open at Palos Verdes Golf Club and had a chance to win again. But she bogeyed the last two holes for a 67 and missed the playoff by one shot.
Cheyenne Knight, who had a two-shot lead going into the final round, closed with a 2-over 73 and tied for sixth.
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