Tony Finau entered the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open after a missed cut in Mexico last week. This was his first start of this season. He stated that he didn’t take any rest and continued to practice in order to get rid of rust.
He did find his form.
Finau was either the leader or co-leader after each round. He ran away from the field on Sunday’s final round at Memorial Park Golf Course. Finau won the fifth PGA Tour title in his career, finishing at 16 under par and winning by four strokes.
Finau, who had only won once in his first 188 Tour starts, has won four of his last 30 starts and three of his seven previous starts.
Finau stated that in order to win a tournament you need to know what to do. It was different nerves. I have never been that far ahead in my life. That’s a pleasant feeling. I tried to stay present and remember that there is still much golf to play, and I think I did a good job.
It was not really clear if Finau would win the Houston Open. He started the round with an even-par nine holes and then went 5 under on the second nine to tie the lead. He then dominated the field with an 8 under 62 to lead by four shots at the halfway mark.
Houston Open The winner’s bag
Finau shot 2-under-68 during Saturday’s third round. He was playing in gusty winds and cooler temperatures. He called it a round that was better than his 8-under performance on Saturday. It set him up for Sunday.
Finau stated, “I had always hoped that I could go to special runs. And I think we are starting to see that now.” Finau said, “I am starting to put together full-package games, which is really exciting. You can only work hard and I’ve put in a lot of effort on the parts I know I need to. It’s beginning to show.
Finau will be in the field at the RSM Classic next week. Finau is also the last player who has won back-to-back Tour starts, as he did last season at the 3M Open (Minnesota) and the Rocket Mortgage Classic (Michigan).
Tony Finau finishes the Cadence Bank Houston Open with a 1-under 69. He is the first 18-hole leader/coleader to win the PGA TOUR since he won the feat at July’s 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms November 13, 2022
Finau winning the title, it was time to see who would be the runner-up between Tyson Alexander or Ben Taylor. The Houston Open was the first time that neither of these players had reached the top-10 on Tour.
Alexander hit a 33-foot birdie shot on the 18th hole to reach 12 under. Taylor was one shot behind and tried to hit his approach shot at 23 feet, but it was too far. Taylor finished third at 11 under. Alexander was third.
Alexander stated, “Great week for us.” “I wish Tony would take the week off. But yeah, 132 players. I think one man’s going to defeat me. So that’s it. Just trying to beat as many people possible.
Taylor and he had a great weekend.
It was also a very special week for Travis Vick, Cole Hammer and Kyle Westmoreland. Hammer, a Texas graduate made his professional debut on Tour. He had missed his first six. Hammer finished T-27 at 2 under.
Vick, a Texas senior, made it to the final cut. He finished at even par for the week and tied for 39th.
This is Westmoreland’s heroic story. He attended high school in Houston and later this year was the first Air Force grad to receive a Tour card. Westmoreland was selected for the number on Veterans’ Day weekend. He had to wait until Saturday morning before he could find out if he was successful. He was T-27 and 2 below for the week.
