Tony Finau beats Cameron Smith in playoff to take PGA Tour’s Northern Trust Open
Sarah Jacobson Tony Finau became the first player in history to win a PGA Tour event with a playoff hole. The victory was made even sweeter for the golfer, who is from Hawaii and is an American citizen.
The golfer johnson, John Johnson, finished the PGA Tour’s Northern Trust Open with a win. Tony Finau beat Cameron Smith in the playoff to take home the trophy.
NEW JERSEY CITY — Tony Finau is a golfer from the United States. was gaining a reputation as a player who did everything right but couldn’t win. He never lost faith in his ability to defeat the greatest.
Late Monday afternoon, amid the bright Manhattan cityscape, that moment finally came at the Northern Trust. Finau put together his greatest back nine of his career to catch world No. 1 Jon Rahm and then defeat Cameron Smith in a playoff.
At Liberty National, Finau tapped in the winning par putt, raised his head to the heavens, and flapped his lips in a relief and pleasure sigh.
“I believe it’s more enormous for my feeling of achievement,” he said. “It’s tough to lose, and it’s much worse to lose in front of the world.” I’ve done it a number of times already this year. That piqued my interest. If it doesn’t deter you, it will make you hungry. ‘When are you going to win again?’ you folks keep asking. That makes me want to eat even more.
“Until now, everything has been equal. It was past time for me to triumph once again.”
| Top 10s | Wins | |
|---|---|---|
| Jon Rahm | 49 | 6 |
| Justin Thomas is an American football player who plays for the | 45 | 13 |
| Johnson, Dustin | 41 | 12 |
| Rory McIlroy is a golfer from Northern Ireland. | 40 | 6 |
| Tony Finau | 40 | 1 |
| ESPN Stats & Information | ||
Finau broke a five-year and 142-start drought on the PGA Tour in a rain-delayed opening to the FedEx Cup playoffs, with players sitting out Sunday while Hurricane Henri moved off the Eastern Seaboard.
Since his lone win at the Puerto Rico Open in the spring of 2016, he has eight runner-up results, three of which were playoff losses, and 39 top-10s.
That was followed by a dramatic surge, which began with a birdie-eagle-birdie run on the back nine for a 30 and finished with a 6-under 65.
He required a lot of assistance, like he did with most of the wins on this trip.
Rahm, who led by two shots at the turn, bogeyed the 15th hole and had to settle for par on the reachable par-4 16th, which felt like a bogey. To finish alone in third place, he had to settle with a 69.
With two consecutive birdies and a chance at three in a row with a 25-foot putt on the 18th for the victory, Smith had a spectacular finale of his own. He missed the cut and scored a 67, which was the closest the Australian got to winning.
Finau blasted his drive down the center on the 18th hole in the playoffs. Smith’s driving was so far to the right that it flew straight over the retaining wall that divides Liberty National from the Hudson River’s edge.
The postseason was essentially finished at that point. For Smith, it was the second time in a row that a poor final drive lost him a chance to win.
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He replied, “Just a horrible swing, buddy.” “This year, my driver has cost me a couple tournaments. That makes me even more motivated to find it out by the year’s end.”
Finau was at the right place at the right time. With two events remaining in the hunt for the $15 million prize, he climbed to the top of the FedEx Cup rankings for the first time.
He climbed to No. 6 in the Ryder Cup rankings as a result. The top six finishers in this week’s BMW Championship are automatically qualified. Even if Finau withdraws, it will be difficult for United States skipper Steve Stricker to keep him off of the 12-man squad.
“‘If you don’t win, you’re not going to make the squad,’ I reminded myself. Despite the fact that I’ve always been around the top of the rankings, I wanted this validation more for myself to be part of a winning team this season and to be playing strong golf heading into the Ryder Cup “Finau said.
Finau only had to two-putt for par in the playoff after saving par from the bunker with a 6-foot putt on the 18th in regulation to finish at 20-under 264.
“I’ve played well in major events,” Finau said, “but turning in a 30 on the back nine of a playoff event, chasing down the greatest player in the world, those are all experiences that will stick with me.”
On Monday, there were a slew of additional major winners, beginning with Keith Mitchell. In the FedEx Cup, he was ranked 101st, and only the top 70 players advance to the BMW Championship. Mitchell needed a strong finish, and he delivered with three consecutive birdies for a 69 to tie for seventh place at 13-under 271.
Tom Hoge began at No. 108 and finished in a tie for fourth place to advance. That was his greatest result of the season, and it came at the perfect moment, as the points were quadrupling.
Alex Noren, Erik van Rooyen, Harold Varner III, and Harry Higgs will all compete in the BMW Championship later this week. Van Rooyen was in contention on the front nine until he scored a quadruple-bogey 7 after hitting two shots into the sea on the par-3 11th.
As Hurricane Henri neared on Sunday, the final round was postponed, and the fringes of what became a tropical storm at landfall poured more than 6 inches of rain on Liberty National. In the morning, there was another four-hour delay, and spectators were barred from the venue.
They missed a fantastic performance, as well as a popular winner. Few others have been as kind as he has been after so many opportunities to win have passed him by.
Finau remarked, “I hope I don’t have to wait another five years for the next one.”
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