From the start of the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic, any thoughts of a Tony Finau hangover performance were put to bed. Winning last week’s 3M Open in convincing fashion, the American did it again at Detroit Golf Club as he signed for rounds of 64-66-65-67 en route to his fourth PGA victory Tour and his third in less than a year. .
Despite becoming the first player since Brendon Todd in 2019 to win in back-to-back weeks during the regular season, the two wins couldn’t have been more different. The beneficiary of a Scott Piercy collapse at TPC Twin Cities, Finau’s nine charge coupled with good fortune was enough to push him into the winner’s circle in Minnesota at 26 under par.
There was nothing lucky about his record-setting performance in Detroit. All aspects of his game were firing on all cylinders and it wasn’t until the 11th hole on Sunday that the Presidents Cup hopeful carded his first bogey of the week. Going 64 holes without dropping a shot, Finau’s steady hand suffocated the field as any missteps by his competitors were multiplied by ten.
With the chasing pack consisting of Patrick Cantlay and Cameron Young to start the final round, it is conceivable to suggest that an earlier version of Finau would have felt the heat. However, as we saw with Xander Schauffele earlier this summer, it’s amazing how just a couple of weeks can change our perception of a player.
Many have been waiting for Finau to discover his full potential and this week may have been just that, as he has reached the age of 26. When he does it on the greens, he can make the game look as easy and stress-free as any on Tour.
These days, youth is the name of the game. Every season a new face comes on the scene and is without any nerves on golf’s biggest stage. There’s Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris and Cameron Young to name just a few, and that inherently makes the window for those on the wrong side of 30 much shorter.
While his win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic marks the end of his 2021-22 regular season, with it comes the beginning of the next chapter in his Finau career. A career as a winner. A playoff run similar to last year’s Cantlay was written last week, but why stop there. Both of his wins came in two of the weakest fields of 2022, but given his ability to rise to the occasion in major championships, one wonders if Finau is able to carry this momentum into 2023 and seriously threaten to a certain green jacket in April. Grade: A+
Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic standings
T2. Taylor Pendrith (-21): Unfortunately for the 31-year-old rookie, the nerves were there early and often on Sunday. Never looking comfortable in the final round, Pendrith went into par as he failed to convert birdie opportunities on any of the par 5s. After two strokes behind Finau, the driver continued to take out the Canadian as he battled a double meaning In what was only his third start since returning from a rib injury, Pendrith impressed to claim his fourth consecutive top-15 finish since the Players Championship. He has made mincemeat of these short spots in his rookie campaign and is always a force to be reckoned with at those spots that measure around 7,200 yards forward. Grade: A
T2. Patrick Cantlay (-21): One of the biggest surprises this season is the fact that Cantlay remains without a solo win. He started the final round a bit too far behind Pendrith and Finau as he was slow out of the gates on Thursday with a 2-under 70. Still, his performance at the Rocket Mortgage Classic marked another close call as a current PGA Tour player. of the year now has 10 top-10 finishes, two of which were playoff losses, in just 16 starts. He heads into the FedEx Cup Playoffs well-positioned to defend his crown, but will need to recreate the magic of last year’s postseason to capture the biggest payday of the year at the Tour Championship. Grade: A-
T2. Cameron Young (-21): The likely PGA Tour Rookie of the Year found himself in a familiar position Sunday. After four shots behind the two leaders, Young was unable to match his final round of the Open and instead stalled for most of his round, eventually signing for a 4-under 68. All and unable to threaten to lead, he once again played on the front page of the leaderboard, as he has done with impressive regularity throughout his rookie season. In total, he now has seven podiums and the conventional wisdom suggests that the big win is just around the corner. Grade: A-
T20. Will Zalatoris (-13): Another week goes by where Zalatoris falls short of his first PGA Tour win. After signing for rounds of 70-71 and making the cut, the Wake Forest product found his game over the weekend and climbed into the top 20 courtesy of rounds of 69-65. As it stands, Zalatoris is slated to play in the Wyndham Championship and perhaps a return to the state of North Carolina will push him into the winner’s circle. He will need to improve on and around the green, as he ranked outside the top 50 in both short-game metrics and thus wasted a great display of ball-striking. Degree: B