SALT LAKE CITY — With scores going up amidst poor conditions Sunday afternoon at the Open Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland, Utah’s Tony Finau played solid golf and finished in third place, his best finish ever at a major championship.
As strong winds and rain battered the course, Finau stayed strong and was the only player in the final 10 groups to finish at even par or better. He finished with a 71, which left him at 7-under-par 277, eight shots behind winner Shane Lowry and four behind Tommy Fleetwood. It marked his sixth top-10 finish in a major championship. Earlier this year he tied for fifth at the Masters.
“I was just happy with the way I hung in there,” Finau told the media at Royal Portrush after his round. “I knew winning the championship was out of my grasp, but I wanted to post as good of a number as I could. Then just keep fighting until the end, and I was able to do that.”
I knew winning the championship was out of my grasp, but I wanted to post as good of a number as I could. – Tony Finau
Finau had just two birdies on the day, at the par-5 seventh and par-5 12th holes, and had two bogeys at holes 11 and 13. Otherwise he had 14 pars on the difficult day that saw first-round leader J.B. Holmes shoot an 87.
“I wasn’t trying to make birdies, and I think that’s the thing when you’re playing in wind,” Finau said. “Par is a great score when you know you’re playing a golf course like this. I wasn’t trying to hit hero shots. I was hitting the shots I know I can play. And mentally you’ve got to be tough.”
With his high finish, Finau earned $718,000 and moved up to No. 12 in the world golf rankings.
“Really proud of the way I played this week,” Finau said. “I continue to just prove to myself one day I can win one of these, no doubt.”