Tony Finau fired six birdies in a five-under-par 67 on Sunday to claim a convincing five-shot win in the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Finau, fresh off his come-from-behind victory in the 3M Open, started the day tied for the lead with Taylor Pendrith and relentlessly pulled away as the Canadian struggled to build momentum.
Finau’s 26-under-par total of 262 was the lowest score in tournament history.
The world No 16 was 24 under after birdies at the 4th, 7th and 10th – where he rolled in a 21-foot putt – before his lone bogey of the week with a three-putt at the 11th.
Finau promptly responded by draining a 30-foot birdie putt at the 12th, then added birdies at 14 and 17 to close out the win.
“Anytime you win, you breed confidence,” said Finau, who is projected to rise to seventh in the world rankings. “I was just happy to carry that confidence from last week right into this week.
“I’ve been working extremely hard on my game all year and I think I’m bearing the fruit of the labour I’ve had throughout this season and it’s coming together for me late in the season.”
Pendrith, meanwhile, had three birdies and three bogeys in his even-par 72 to share second on 21 under 267 with reigning FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay and Cameron Young.
“It was tough,” Pendrith said. “I couldn’t really get anything going and didn’t get off to the best start like I did the last three days, but kind of hung in there.
“Middle of the round I hit some really nice iron shots and just couldn’t get anything to fall. I left a lot of putts short and obviously those have no chance of going in … just kind of lost my feel on the speed of my putts.
“But, all in all, obviously it’s a good week. It’s my best finish ever. It’s fun to play in a final group. Tony played great, so hats off to him.”
Cantlay started the day six adrift and climbed the leaderboard with a six-under-par 66 that featured birdies at four of his first five holes and an eagle at the 14th.
“I thought I played great today,” Cantlay said. “The golf course firmed up and played a little tougher than the previous three days, and I played really well, hit a lot of solid shots and actually hit a bunch of good putts and didn’t have a ton go in after the first four, five holes.”
He didn’t leave himself too much work at the 14th, where he hit “two really good shots and a simple five-footer up the hill for eagle”.
He added another birdie at the par-five 17th but closed his round with a bogey to miss out on a solo runner-up finish.
Young joined the group sharing second with a four-under-par 68 that featured six birdies.
The three South Africans in the field – Garrick Higgo, Dawie van der Walt and Dylan Frittelli – all missed the weekend cut.
© Agence France-Presse
