A 6-under 65 from Tony Finau on Saturday gave him a two-shot lead over Masters champion Jon Rahm and 21-year-old Akshay Bhatia at the Mexico Open at Vidanta. He had five birdies in his final seven holes.
Rahm, the defending champion, shot a 61 to tie his previous low round on the PGA TOUR. He trailed Finau by six shots into the third round and briefly held a one-shot lead before Finau rallied at the end.
Bhatia ended his round at Vallarta Vidanta with an eagle and a 63 after striking his second shot from 8 feet to the 18th par-5 hole.
Rahm has made enough errors in the first two rounds to put himself in a tight spot. Saturday was not one of those days. He only missed one green, and four of his ten birdies came from putts of at least 25 feet.
“I’ll surely give myself a shot if I keep putting in as well as I did today,” Rahm said.
Finau was at 19 under 194 as he attempted to win his second match of the year and fourth PGA TOUR championship within the last nine months.
Finau responded with a difficult pitch from short of the 12th par-5 hole for a birdie just as Rahm was gaining ground with three straight birdies. He struck a lofted pitch for birdie on the 13th par-3 after his tee ball had gone long. He then backed it up on the 14th par-5 with a daring 3-iron that he launched towards the water and hauled back to within 12 feet for a two-putt birdie.
His only error was a three-putt from the fringe on the 17th par-3 hole, but he made up for it with a last birdie to go into the final round with a two-shot lead.
Before the beginning of the back nine, Finau didn’t see a leaderboard. That was his first clue that Rahm was launching a major charge.
“I believe it definitely roused some adrenaline in me, and I was able to score a few birdies coming in to maintain my lead over him. I was prepared for that heading into today. He is a fantastic golfer. I often play with him, so it didn’t come as a huge surprise to me to see him in first place after only 12 or 13 holes.” Finau said.
In the Mexico Open last year, Finau finished second to Rahm. Rahm gave a preview of what was to come by making a birdie putt from well within 40 feet to start his round. In the middle of the back nine, he made three straight birdies after starting the round in 29.
For his lowest round, the Spaniard required a birdie on the final par-5 hole, but his drive found the lip of a bunker, and he could only shoot out sideways, ending in par.
In the third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions in 2022 and the WGC-Mexico Championship at Chapultepec in 2020, he also shot 61. Neither of those two competitions saw him come out on top.
“Everything simply felt so ideal today. I took a lot of nice swings, and even the bad ones produced positive results for me.” Rahm said.
The long putts could not be disregarded either.
“One is a bonus already. It’s incredible that I could repeat it two or three times. In a course like this, I believe that’s the difference most of the time. There are numerous 6-under and 7-under pars to be seen. You will need to build a couple of lengthy ones in order to reach 10 though.
Really pleased with what I accomplished and grateful that I gave myself today’s chance to succeed.” said Rahm.
The top two players in the field in the Mexico Open are Rahm, who is rated No. 1 in the world, and Finau. They participated in a practice round with Bhatia earlier in the week, and he will now play them on Sunday. For a youngster who got professional at age 17, it’s outstanding work.
Having finished second at the Puerto Rico Open earlier this year, Bhatia has already secured a PGA TOUR card for the upcoming season. His special temporary membership as a result allows him to receive as many exemptions as he wants for the remainder of the year.
But he must first win in order to compete in the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs. Thanks to a 30 on the back nine, which was topped off with an eagle on No. 18, this will be an excellent opportunity once more.
“Today was fantastic because I was in a very relaxed state, and I keep trying to put myself in this position. And I’m confident that I can win because I did it on the Korn Ferry Tour, so I understand how it feels to compete tomorrow.” Bhatia said.
No one else was within five shots of Finau’s total, while Brandon Wu (67) was three shots behind him.
