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The tournament at Liberty National in Jersey City, N.J., was the
opener of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs. The final round was
delayed one day due to inclement weather.
Both Finau and Smith finished at 20-under-par 264 over 72 holes
after Finau shot a 6-under 65 on Monday and Smith carded a
4-under 67.
On the first playoff hole, Smith knocked his drive out of
bounds, and Finau took advance to win with a par on the par-4
18th hole.
Finau won the first time since the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, ending
a winless stretch of 142 starts. He now owns two career titles
in 189 starts.
A string of five holes on the back nine during which was 5 under
led to the victory. Starting at the 12th hole, he went
birdie-eagle-birdie-par-birdie.
On the par-5 13th hole, Finau knocked his 218-yard approach shot
within 3 feet of the cup, and he knocked in the eagle putt to
tie Spain's Jon Rahm for the lead.
"It took everything I had because I knew I had to get to 20
under," Finau said. "I was chasing down the best player in the
world (Rahm). Jon is a good friend, but I know what type of game
he has. He's not going to let up on a lead. So I knew I was
going to have to catch him and eventually pass him, and Cam was
playing well. I gave it everything I had."
Smith put himself in contention with consecutive birdies at Nos.
16 and 17 before he parred the closing hole.
He said of the decisive mistake in the playoff, "Just a terrible
swing, mate. Just a mis-hit, and in these conditions, you can't
mis-hit the ball. Got a little bottom-y and a little bit heel-y
and just blew up in the wind and went a long ways right.
"You know, my driver has cost me a few tournaments this year.
That makes me more determined to try and figure it out before
the end of the year."
Rahm birdied the 12th and 13th holes, but he logged two bogeys
and no birdies over the final five holes, including a bogey at
No. 18, to finish two shots back of the leaders. He shot a
2-under 69 on Monday and wound up in solo third place.
Sweden's Alex Noren (5 under on Monday), Tom Hoge (2 under) and
Justin Thomas (1 under) shared fourth place at 15 under.
South Africa's Erik van Rooyen (1 over) claimed seventh place at
14 under.
Kevin Na (3 under), Keith Mitchell (2 under) and Canada's Corey
Conners (1 under) tied for eighth place at 13 under. Mitchell
birdied each of the last three holes to jump into the top 70 in
the FedEx Cup standings and qualify for next week's in Owings
Mills, Md.
Finau reflected on the difference in his game since his only
other PGA Tour win.
"I'm a lot better player and I feel like it's been a long time
coming, but I also feel like you have to earn everything out
here," he said. "Nothing's given to you and I was able to earn
this win, and you know, hopefully the future continues to be
bright.
"I'm playing some great golf. We've got two big tournaments in
front of me, so I'm going to enjoy this one. ... I feel like I
can go on a run, so why not continue right on to next week."
--Field Level Media
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