What is Tony Finau’s lowest score from his last three Vidanta Vallarta rounds? A 65-under.
After his second round of 7-under-64 at the 2023 Mexico Open in Vidanta, Puerto Vallarta, he jumped into the lead. After the morning wave, he is at 13 under par.
Finau finished tied for second in Mexico last year, one shot behind Jon Rahm after shooting a 63. He started with a 65 before his 64 on the Friday.
Finau stated, “I played very well over the last two days. I was able capitalize with the putting on shots that i hit fairly close.” Finau said, “The biggest thing was hitting the ball well, but I also had to be able capitalize with my putter, which was very important here. And I was able do this over the last two days.”
Finau’s round went smoothly until the 8th green, which was his 17th of the day. Finau three-putted to make bogey and then his teeshot on the par-3 9th was right short of the green. It rolled back into the rough. He scrambled for par, making an 8-foot 4-inch putt. However, this doesn’t detract from his excellent round.
Finau finished with a score of 5-under-31, including three consecutive birdies at Nos. 16-18. Then he had another three birdies at Nos. The lone blemish came at No. He made 16 of 18 putts and only missed one fairway out of 13.
Erik van Rooyen, who shot a 5-under 66, and is currently 12 under par for the tournament, birdied the final hole after hitting his tee-shot to 3 feet. Finau and He have separated themselves from the rest of the field. Andrew Putnam and Will Gordon are at 9 under par and the closest chasing group after the morning waves.
This season, the five-time Tour champion has only won one match. It was the Cadence Bank Houston Open in the fall. Last summer, he won two consecutive starts, at the 3M Open Blaine, Minnesota and Rocket Mortgage Classic Detroit.
Finau stated, “We are only half way through. There is still so much golf left to play.” You always want to claim that you can win a tournament. I have done it a few time over the past year. But every week, every day, has its challenges. So this is not the time to get ahead.
Get some work done today and then hit the pool to refresh and prepare for tomorrow.
The 33-year old is ranked 16th on the world rankings ( , but fifth according to the Golfweek/Sagarin ranking), and has only missed one cut in thirteen starts. That came at the World Wide Technology Championship the week before he won a trophy in Houston.
