Benign weather conditions at the Old Course in St. Andrews made scoring relatively easy Sunday in the 150th British Open.
Utah’s Tony Finau took full advantage.
Although he was never in contention to win the golf tournament, Finau fired a 6-under-par 66 to move up the leaderboard in the final round of the final major golf championship of the season. He finished at 8-under for the tournament, and was in the top 20 when he completed his round.
More low scores came in throughout the day, however, and Finau finished tied for 28th place, statistically his worst showing in six British Open appearances.
Cameron Smith won the tournament, shooting an 8-under 64 Sunday to overcome a four-shot deficit and post a total score of 20-under. It was the first major championship for the Australian.
Cameron Young of the United States was second after making an eagle on the final hole, while fan favorite Rory McIlroy was third after starting the final round tied for the lead.
A tie for 27th in 2017 was Finau’s worst finish in the British Open until this weekend’s finish.
Still, the graduate of Salt Lake City’s West High, who spends his summers at his home in Lehi, has played the tournament commonly called the British Open and officially known as the Open Championship better than any other major. He’s made the cut in all six of his appearances, with a third-place finish in 2019 his top showing.
There was no tournament in 2020, due to the pandemic.
On Sunday, Finau made eight birdies and two bogeys, and played as well as he has in any single round in a major this year. For starters, he birdied both par-5s, after making five pars and a bogey on those holes in his first three rounds.
His only two bogeys came after he shots into bunkers on the par-4 No. 3 hole and the par-4 17th hole.
His longest birdie putt was a 12-footer, on No. 12.
It was Finau’s best finish in a major in 2022, after he tied for 35th at the Masters and 30th at the PGA Championship. He missed the cut in the U.S. Open in Massachusetts last month.