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Finau Dominates, Green Prevails in Playoff | Sunday Swing

Finau Dominates, Green Prevails in Playoff | Sunday Swing

Finau Dominates, Green Prevails in Playoff | Sunday Swing

May 01, 2023

Welcome back to the Sunday Swing presented by 2nd Swing Golf. This week in the world of golf, the PGA Tour traveled outside the United States for the Mexico Open at Vidanta Vallarta. Meanwhile, the LPGA Tour stayed on American soil for the JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, CA. 


The Mexico Open - Tournament History & Notes 


While the Mexico Open wasn’t an official PGA Tour event until the 2022 season, it has a 79-year history dating back to 1944 as a part of other tours such as PGA Tour Latinoamerica, Korn Ferry Tour, and others. Originally hosted at Club de Golf Chapultepec, the Mexico Open has been hosted at various locations throughout its existence. It’s now held at Nuevo Vallarta, a fun layout that produces plenty of birdies. Last year in the tournament’s PGA Tour debut, Jon Rahm was able to claim victory by three over Tony Finau, Kurt Kitayama, and Brandon Wu. This year the heavyweights returned – Rahm to defend his title, and Finau seeking revenge.

 

The Big Swing

 

This week the Big Swing goes to Tony Finau, champion of the 2023 Mexico Open. After finishing runner-up last year to the hottest player on the planet, Finau entered the week looking for payback and his fourth win the past year. Rahm, on the other hand, was looking to defend his title and pick up his fifth win of the current season. The pair didn’t wait long to start making birdies. Rahm opened with 67 and 68 while Finau opened with 65 and 64. On Saturday, Rahm had some ground to make up – and that’s what he did, shooting a course record 61 to earn a spot in the final group on Sunday with Finau and 21-year-old phenom Akshay Bhatia. 


Finau wasted no time extending his lead in the final round, making birdie at the opening hole. He also birdied holes 5 and 7 to turn in 32. Rahm started with 5 straight pars before making back-to-back birdies at 6 and 7 before stalling. Also playing well was another youngster Brandon Wu, who made three birdies and an eagle in his first seven holes to climb into contention. After lurking near the lead for some time, Bhatia made three bogeys on holes 9-13 fall out of contention. 


Ultimately, Finau kept his foot on the gas on the back nine and had complete control of the tournament the entire day. Even by making pars on the last four holes, Finau was able to get the win by three shots over Rahm. With the victory, Finau joins Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, and Max Homa as the only four players with multiple wins this year. 


Winner’s Bag -- Tony Finau


Tony Finau put on a clinic this week on his way to a dominant win at the Mexico Open, earning revenge after finishing runner-up at this event last year. It’s his fourth win in the past nine months dating back to last July, and he’s had a ton of success with pretty much the same setup in his bag. As a PING staff member, Finau plays primarily PING clubs, including:

 

 

 

In the World of Women’s Golf


This week the LPGA Tour was back in Los Angeles for the JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club. This week 32-year-old American Marina Alex aimed to defend her title from a year ago against a strong field that included the likes of Nelly Korda, Nasa Kataoka, Stacy Lewis, and Minjee Lee. To start the week, however, it was Cheyenne Knight who jumped out to an early lead with with rounds of 68, 69, and 67 to open a two-shot lead entering the final round. Korda was among the pack following close behind, waiting for the chance to vault to the top.


Throughout the final round, several different names spent time at or near the top of the leaderboard. In fact, the entire top 10 finished within three shots of the lead. And at one point during the back nine, there was a five-way tie at the top. Knight struggled, falling behind en route to a round of two-over par 73. Aditi Ashok of India and Xiyu Lin of China each fired rounds of four-under-par 67 to earn the clubhouse lead at a total of nine-under-par. Australian Hannah Green, having not won an LPGA event since 2019, faced a 25-foot putt on the 72nd hole to join Ashok and Lin in the playoff. She drained it.


The trio played the par-3 18th for the first playoff hole. Impressively, both Green and Lin were able to hit close tee shots and capitalize with birdies. Ashok’s birdie bid slid by, leaving Green and Lin to battle it out once again on the 18th hole. 


This time, Lin’s tee shot found the greenside bunker, and she was unable to get up-and-down. Leaving Green with an easy two-foot putt to win that she converted. The win was Green’s 10th as a pro – but just her third on the LPGA Tour and her first since 2019. 

 

Winner's Bag -- Hannah Green

 

Hannah Green needed to come through in crunch time on Sunday to find her way back into the winner's circle -- and that's exactly what she did. She buried a 25-foot putt for birdie on the 72nd hole to earn a spot in a three-way playoff -- and then birdied the same hole (the first playoff hole) again to stay alive. A par on the second playoff hole was enough to earn the win, which is her first on the LPGA Tour since 2019. Green plays a mix of Srixon and PING clubs in the bag, including: