Tony Finau’s worst score in his past three rounds at Vidanta Vallarta? A 6-under 65.
He soared into the lead after his 7-under 64 second round at the 2023 Mexico Open at Vidanta in Puerto Vallarta. He sits at 13 under, a shot in front after the morning wave.
Last year in Mexico, Finau tied for second, a shot behind Jon Rahm, after a closing 63. He opened with a 65 on Thursday before his 64 on Friday.
“I played really nicely over the last couple days, was able to capitalize with the putter on shots that I hit pretty close,” Finau said. “That was probably the biggest story, hitting it nicely, but being able to capitalize with the putter is very important out here, and I was able to do that over the last couple days.”
Finau’s round was smooth sailing until the eighth green, his 17th hole of the day. He three-putted for bogey, then his tee shot on the par-3 ninth was short and right of the green, rolling back into the rough. He was able to scramble for par making an 8-foot, 4-inch putt, but nevertheless, it doesn’t take away from his stellar round.
Finau turned in 5-under 31, including three straight birdies on Nos. 16-18. He then had another trio of birdies on Nos. 5-7 before the lone blemish at 8. He hit 16 of 18 greens and missed only one of 13 fairways.
Erik van Rooyen birdied his final hole, the ninth, after throwing his tee shot to 3 feet, helping him shoot 5-under 66 and sit at 12 under for the tournament. Playing in the afternoon wave, Brandon Wu also birdied the last – in fact, he birdied Nos. 16, 17 and 18 – to post a 64 and tie van Rooyen at 12 under, a shot back of the lead.
Those three have separated from the field, Andrew Putnam, Will Gordon, Eric Cole and Austin Smotherman all tied at 9 under.
Finau, a five-time Tour winner, has one victory this season at the Cadence Bank Houston Open last November. He won consecutive starts last summer, coming at the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota, and Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.
“We’re only halfway, there’s so much golf to be played,” Finau said. “You always want to say that you have what it takes to win a golf tournament. I think luckily for me, I’ve done that a few times over the last year, but every week has its own challenges, every day has its own challenges, so this is not a time to get ahead of myself.
“Get some work done today, hit the pool and then be refreshed and get ready again for tomorrow.”
The 33-year-old is ranked 16th in the world (but fifth in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings) and has missed only one cut in 13 starts, that coming at the World Wide Technology Championship, the week before he hoisted a trophy in Houston.
