By TERRY LYONS
VALLARTA, México – PGA Tour veteran Tony Finau won his sixth PGA Tour title and fourth in his last 18 starts. He earned multiple victories in back-to-back seasons for the first time in his career.
Finau Takes Mexico Open at Vidanta
Mexico Open
Finau, Rahm Battling It Out
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By TERRY LYONS
VALLARTA, México – PGA Tour veteran Tony Finau is seeking his sixth title and fourth since finishing runner-up at the 2022 Mexico Open at Vidanta. Finau’s score of 18-under (194) set the 54-hole tournament record.
Meanwhile, World No. 1 and FedEx Cup leader Jon Rahm tied his career-low score on Tour with a bogey-free 10-under (61) to set the 18-hole tournament record.
Defending champion Rahm sits two strokes back in bid to successfully defend on Tour for the first time in seven tries.
Special temporary PGA Tour member Akshay Bhatia seeks to become the first Special Temporary Member to win on Tour since Tom Kim at the 2022 Wyndham Championship.
Brandon Wu (4th at -16) owns two runner-up results in 56 starts on the Tour, including T-2 at this event last year when he posted a final-round (63) to T-2 and at the 2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. With a win, Wu would become the eighth first-time winner on Tour this season.
Making his PGA Tour debut as a sponsor exemption, Raul Pereda (T17/-8) would qualify for this week’s Wells Fargo Championship with a T-10 or better.
Mexico Open | Leaderboard After 54 Holes
Tony Finau 65-64-65—194 (-19)
Jon Rahm 67-68-61—196 (-17)
Akshay Bhatia 68-65-63—196 (-17)
Brandon Wu 66-64-67—197 (-16)
Will Gordon 67-66-67—200 (-13)
Full Leaderboard (link)
Rahm Seeking to Defend in Mexico
VALLARTA, México – World No. 1 and current FedEx Cup leader Jon Rahm returns to the Mexico Open at Vidanta after winning the inaugural event in 2022. Rahm has four wins this season, including the Masters, and with a win, would become the first player to win five times in a PGA Tour season since Justin Thomas in 2016-17.
With $13,623,540 in Official Money this season, Rahm is the second player in PGA Tour history to earn $13 million or more in a single season. In 2021-22, Scottie Scheffler set the Tour record for most Official Money earned in a single season with $14,046,910.
Rahm has made six prior starts as the defending champion on Tour. He has not successfully defended a title, but led by six strokes after the third round of the 2021 Memorial Tournament presented by Workday before being forced to withdraw (COVID-19). Rahm has successfully defended one title on the DP World Tour, winning the Open de España in 2018 and 2019.
Tony Finau finished T-2 at the 2022 Mexico Open, which was his first Top-10 of that season. That runner-up result began a stretch of 15 starts for Finau that included three wins (3M Open, Rocket Mortgage Classic, Cadence Bank Houston Open) and three other top-five finishes. With his win at the Cadence Bank Houston Open, Finau is one of four players in the field that has won on Tour this season.
Mexico Open | Tournament Facts
COURSE: Vidanta Vallarta in Vallarta, México
ARCHITECT: Greg Norman (2015)
YARDS/PAR: 7,456 yards/Par 71
PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $7,700,000/$1,386,000
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Jon Rahm
FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @MexicoOpenGolf 🇲🇽
Rahm Leads at Mexico Open
VALLARTA, México – World No. 2 Jon Rahm holds the 54-hole lead/co-lead for the seventh time in his career and is 1-for-6 to date converting to victory. Previously, he did so at the 2020 Memorial Tournament presented by Workday.
In his 14th start this season, first-year PGA TOUR member Kurt Kitayamaseeks first PGA Tour victory and second Top-10 finish. The Mexico Open is his best outing since finishing third at the 2020 Honda Classic.
Each of Cameron Champ’s three victories have come when he was inside the Top-four following 54-holes.
Alvaro Ortiz (T30/-6) is best of the three Mexican players after 54 holes (Abraham Ancer (T-35/-5, Carlos Ortiz (T-58/-3)
Stephan Jaeger (T13) makes back-to-back eagles for the first time in his TOUR career; marks second player this season
PGA Tour Rolls Into Mexico
VALLARTA, México – The Mexico Open at Vidanta is a new, official FedEx Cup event, added to the PGA Tour schedule for 2021-22, and the third official event in the modern era of the Tour to be held in Mexico.
Previous PGA Tournaments in Mexico included:
- World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship 2017-2020
- World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba 2007-present
World No. 2 Jon Rahm of Spain, the highest-ranked player in the field, is making his 11th start of the season and first since the Masters Tournament (T-27). Rahm’s career-low score on the PGA Tour came at the 2020 WGC-Mexico Championship (61/R3/Club de Golf Chapultepec), which he matched at the 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions (R-3).
Abraham Ancer, the highest-ranked player from Mexico in the Official World Golf Ranking at No. 20, is one of four players from Mexico to win on Tour (Victor Regalado, Cesar Sanudo, Carlos Ortiz). Ancer has three Top-10s in seven starts at the World Wide Technology Championship and made three starts at the WGC-Mexico Championship with his best, a T-12 in 2020.
Ancer on the Mexico Open at Vidanta: “Having an event like this creates opportunities for other Mexican players,” he said. “The lessons you learn in an event like this are priceless.”
Mexico Open | Tournament Facts
COURSE: Vidanta Vallarta in Vallarta, México
ARCHITECT: Greg Norman (2015)
YARDS/PAR: 7,456 yards/Par 71
PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $7,300,000/$1,314,000
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS: New event on Schedule
FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @MexicoOpenGolf 🇲🇽