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Tony Finau breaks tournament record, wins 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic

Posted at 5:52 PM, Jul 31, 2022
and last updated 2022-07-31 18:14:20-04

DETROIT (WXYZ) — Tony Finau held off a charging Patrick Cantlay and broke the tournament scoring record on his way to winning the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club.

Finau, 32, shot a 67 (-5) to finish with a final score of -26, breaking the previous tournament record of -25 set by Nate Lashley in the inaugural tournament in 2019.

This was his second straight win after he won the 3M Open last weekend in Minnesota, the first to go back-to-back this season, and his fourth PGA Tour win. He shot all four rounds in the 60s – 64, 66, 65 and

Cantlay shot a -6 on the tournament but it looked as if he may catch Finau after shooting -5 in the front 9 and making eagle on the 14th hole.

Finau played incredible the entire weekend, hitting 66 of 72 greens. According to the PGA Tour, only two players have hit more greens in regulation since 1980 – Peter Jacobsen with 69 in the 1995 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Willie Wood with 67 at the 1996 Sanderson Farms Championship.

The tournament had a great leaderboard throughout with Finau and Canadian Taylor Pendrith battling Saturday and Sunday for the tournament. Pendrith, who shot 64, 65, 66 this weekend, didn't play as strong on Sunday and shot an even-par 72.

Watch Taylor Pendrith's interview from Saturday below

Taylor Pendrith praises Detroit fans, tied for lead at Rocket Mortgage Classic

Over the course of the tournament, several players tied the course record and came close to breaking it. On Sunday, Joohyung Kim shot a 63 (-9) to tie the course record. Cameron Young also shot a 63 during the second round to put him in contention, and several birdies on the back 9 kept him near the top of the leaderboard.

Cantlay finished in second place, tied with Young and Pendrith, followed by Stephan Jaegar in fifth place, Taylor Moore in sixth place, Kim in seventh place, and Wyndham Clark and J.J. Spaun tied for 8th place.

Fans had been flocking to the tournament all weekend, and Executive Director Jason Langwell said the tournament was a near-sellout on Saturday. With great weather, the course was busy throughout the day.

Rocket Mortgage Classic's Jason Langwell speaks ahead of final round

Finau joins Lashley, Bryson DeChambeau and Cam Davis who have also won the Rocket Mortgage Classic. The tournament will return to the historic Detroit Golf Club next year, but the date has not yet been set.