Finau wins Mexico Open, Gooch wins 2nd straight LIV event

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This article was published 30/04/2023 (1247 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) — Tony Finau never gave Masters champion Jon Rahm or anyone else much of a chance Sunday, closing with a bogey-free round of 5-under 66 that gave him a three-shot victory in the Mexico Open.

Finau earned a small measure of redemption at Vallarta Vidanta, where last year he finished runner-up to Rahm by one shot. Finau took a two-shot lead into the final round and was never seriously challenged on the back nine.

Rahm wasn’t his biggest threat. Brandon Wu, also a runner-up last year, holed a 45-foot eagle putt on the par-5 sixth hole and made a short birdie on the next hole to briefly tie for the lead.

Finau answered with a birdie on the seventh, and then Wu fell back with a bogey from the bunker on No. 8 and a tee shot into the water on the 10th that led to double bogey. Wu shot 68 and finished third.

Rahm closed with a 67 and certainly had his chances. He was three behind Finau at the turn, but failed to birdie two of the par 5s with a poor drive on the 12th and a poor approach on the 14th that kept him from reasonable birdie chances.

Finau now has two victories this season — his other was in the Houston Open last fall — to join Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa as the only multiple winners on tour this season. He now has four PGA Tour titles in the last nine months.

LPGA TOUR

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hannah Green of Australia made a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole to join a three-way playoff, and then made par on the second extra hole to win the JM Eagle LA Championship on Sunday at Wilshire Country Club.

In a wild finish that featured a five-way tie for the lead late in the final round, Green made birdie for a 2-under 69 to join Aditi Ashok of India and Xiyu Lin of China in the playoff.

Ashok, who had the 36-hole lead, and Lin each closed with a 67 and were the first to post at 9-under 275. Green and Lin birdied the first playoff hole on the par-3 18th.

On the second extra hole at No. 18, Lin hit into a bunker and blasted out to some 18 feet and missed the par putt. That left Green to tap in from 2 feet for her first LPGA win since September 2019.

Green finished second here last year and third the year before at Wilshire. She won $450,000 from the $3 million purse.

Ruoning Yin won in Los Angeles last month at the DIO Implant LA Open at Palos Verdes Golf Club and had a chance to win again. But she bogeyed the last two holes for a 67 and missed the playoff by one shot.

Cheyenne Knight, who had a two-shot lead going into the final round, closed with a 2-over 73 and tied for sixth.

LIV GOLF

SINGAPORE (AP) — Talor Gooch became the first player to win back-to-back LIV Golf titles after a playoff hole victory against Sergio Garcia at LIV Golf Singapore on Sunday.

Gooch and Garcia shadowed each other for most of the opening two rounds and the final round at Sentosa Golf Cub was no different. The American and the Spaniard were never more than stroke apart as they finished at 17-under 196.

At the first playoff hole, the par-5 18th, Gooch skirted with the water hazard with his tee shot but played a near perfect second shot into the heart of the green for a two-putt birdie. Garcia hit into a bunker for his second shot and failed to get up-and-down.

Gooch, who won $4 million for the second straight week, also led his team (RangeGoats) to its first title.

Brooks Koepka shot 67 to finish third at 16-under 197. Phil Mickelson shot a 72, with two double bogeys in his final round, to fall down the leaderboard into a tie for 13th.

EUROPEAN TOUR

INCHEON, South Korea (AP) — Pablo Larrazábal of Spain closed with a 5-under 67 in the Korea Championship to complete a two-shot victory Sunday over Marcus Helligkilde of Denmark.

Larrazábal finished at 12-under 276 at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea and won his eighth career European tour title.

Helligkilde closed with a 68 to take second place, holding off a four-strong chasing pack that included home favorite Sang Hyun Park.

Scotland’s Scott Jamieson joined Park in third place along with Spaniard Jorge Campillo and Dutchman Joost Luiten, who both shot 7-under 65s finish on 9-under 279.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) — Steven Alker won the Insperity Invitational for the second straight year Sunday, closing with a 6-under 66 for a four-shot victory over Steve Stricker and his first title of the year on the PGA Tour Champions.

Alker pulled away from Stricker on the back nine with five birdies in a seven-hole stretch for a 31 on the back nine, and he had an emotional moment of reflection when it was over.

His former caddie, Sam Workman, was from the Houston area. Workman last caddied in January in Hawaii before being diagnosed with cancer. He died about a month later.

Stricker was five shots behind going into the final round. He was slowed by a double bogey on the third hole, but wound up with nine birdies in his round of 65. The runner-up finish enabled Stricker to take the lead in the Charles Schwab Cup over David Toms, who tied for third with Colin Montgomerie.

Alker, who finished at 15-under 201, won for the first time this year. He won the Charles Schwab Cup last year and was voted player of the year.

KORN FERRY TOUR

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Ben Kohles became the first two-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour on Sunday when he seized on Ben Silverman’s mistake on the final hole of regulation and beat him with a birdie in the playoff in the HomeTown Lenders Championship.

Kohles, who won in Chile at the start of the month, closed with a 3-under 67. It looked like it would come up short until Silverman took double bogey on the 18th hole and also shot 67 to fall into a playoff.

Silverman also was looking for his second win of the year.

Kohles and Silverman now are Nos. 1 and 2 on the points list and assured of finishing in the top 30 to earn PGA Tour cards for next season.

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Kohles won for the fourth time on the Korn Ferry Tour. His previous two wins were more than a decade ago.

OTHER TOURS

Savannah Vilaubi closed with a 3-under 69 and won a playoff over Jenny Coleman and Therese Walker on the second hole with a bogey to capture her first Epson Tour title at the Copper Rock Championship. … Hiroshi Iwata closed with a 5-under 65 for a three-shot victory over Rikuya Hoshino in The Crowns. Iwata won his fifth career Japan Golf Tour event and moved to the top of the money list. … Ricardo Gouveia of Portugal had a birdie-eagle finish for a 6-under 66 and a two-shot victory in the Abu Dhabi Challenge. Gouveia moved to No. 9 in the Challenge Tour points list. … Marcos Montenegro rallied from a six-shot deficit and closed with an 8-under 64 to win the Diners Club Peru Open on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica. … Lala Anai closed with a 1-under 71 and held on for a one-shot victory over Saki Nagamine in the Panasonic Ladies Open on the Japan LPGA. … Da Yeon Lee shot 4-under 68 for a four-shot victory in the KLPGA Championship on the Korea LPGA.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports