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Finau carded a
tournament record 26-under 262, one week after he surged ahead
late on Sunday to win the 3M Open in Minnesota.
Brendon Todd's consecutive wins at the Bermuda Championship and
Mayakoba Golf Classic in November 2019 marked the last time a
PGA Tour player went back-to-back.
"Wins are so special out here because they're so rare," Finau
said. "I think I'm gonna really be able to soak these up
probably when I'm home. It probably hasn't hit me yet, the
magnitude of what I've accomplished these last couple weeks."
Finau spent all week atop the leaderboard with Canadian Taylor
Pendrith. They shared the lead after Thursday, Pendrith took a
one-shot lead through 36 holes and Finau tied it back up during
Saturday's third round.
But on Sunday, Pendrith struggled to an even-par 72 and settled
for a tie for second with Patrick Cantlay (66) and Cameron Young
(68) at 21 under.
"It was tough," said Pendrith, who bogeyed the second hole on
his way to three bogeys and three birdies. "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. You know, 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."
Finau had a quiet front nine, only birdieing the par-5 fourth
and seventh holes. He went birdie-bogey-birdie after the turn,
culminating in a 30-foot birdie putt at the par-4 12th. By that
point, he was comfortably ahead of Pendrith and the pack.
Cantlay, the defending FedEx Cup champion, made a run by sinking
five birdies on the front nine. After a bogey at No. 12, he
eagled the par-5 14th by sticking his second shot just 5 feet
from the pin. But he couldn't get closer, finishing birdie-bogey
at the final two holes.
"I played well all week, really solid and that's what I've got
to keep doing, just keep knocking on the door," Cantlay said.
"And got three big tournaments to close the season out (in the
FedEx Cup Playoffs)."
Finau was projected to move up 10 spots to No. 7 in the FedEx
Cup points standings. Cantlay will move from sixth to fifth in
the standings, and Young -- a PGA Tour rookie who picked up his
seventh top-three finish of the season -- will move from 13th to
ninth.
Germany's Stephan Jaeger shot a final-round 68 to finish in
fifth at 20 under, and Taylor Moore placed sixth at 19 under
(including a 66 Sunday).
Earlier in the day, Joohyung Kim carded an eagle and seven
birdies to the course record of 9-under 63. The promising
20-year-old from South Korea received a special temporary
membership for the remainder of the season that allows him to
play on an unlimited number of sponsor exemptions as he aims to
earn his PGA Tour card.
Kim, who finished seventh at 18 under, holed out for eagle from
126 yards away at the par-4 10th.
"It was a soft pitching wedge in the wind," Kim said. "I saw it
land, I didn't know it went in and I kind of turned over to put
my club in the bag and everyone just went kind of crazy. Yeah,
it was just one of those shots where you don't expect it, but it
was a great shot."
--Field Level Media
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