Andrew Landry won the Valero Texas Open on Sunday for his first PGA Tour victory, pulling away with early birdies and holding on with par saves.
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TORONTO — Tony Finau birdied the final hole Saturday for an 8-under 62 and a share of the RBC Canadian Open lead with defending champion Rory McIlroy. “I didn’t finish the way I wanted to yesterday and I think all it did was kind of light a fire in my belly to get after it today,” Finau said. “That’s pretty much what I did. I made some birdies and I just played really clean golf. ” McIlroy had a 65 to match Finau at 11-under 199 at St. George’s Golf and Country Club. “I’m just happy to give myself a chance, be in the final group,” McIlroy said. “Once I saw, I think Tony had got to 10 or maybe 11, I think I was on like 8 or 9 at the time. I just said to myself, `Let’s just try to get yourself in the final group.’” McIlroy had to wait three years to defend his 2019 title because of the COVID-19 pandemic that canceled golf’s fourth-oldest championship the last two years. “I need to set myself a number and be super aggressive,” McIlroy said. “I know I’m going to have to make some birdies out there to win this thing tomorrow.” Finau had the best round of the week, eagling the par-5 ninth in a front-nine 29 and making four birdies and a bogey on the final nine. He won the FedExCup Playoffs opener last season at Liberty National for his second PGA TOUR victory. “I knew I was playing well, but at any given moment on this golf course you can make a number,” Finau said. “So, there’s no reason to get ahead of myself. I just tried to stay in the moment as much as I could and put together a nice round all the way to the end.” PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas (63), Colonial winner Sam Burns (65), Wyndham Clark (68) and Alex Smalley (67) were 9 under. Thomas eagled the par-5 15th. “It was very — it was easy,” Thomas said. “I mean I just, I played really solid. I didn’t do anything great. I just didn’t do anything bad. … I took advantage of some of the opportunities when I had them there in kind of the middle of the course and just stayed patient and waited for my run.” Clark led after each of the first two rounds. “I got off to a little bit of a slow start.” Clark said. “I was nervous, a lot of people out here, hadn’t been in contention in a little while. But then I calmed down and I really felt good about my game.” Nick Taylor was the top Canadian at 5 under after a 67.
Tiger Woods returned competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge, and his 3-under first-round was very good. But let’s pump the breaks.
HONOLULU – Former FedExCup champion Justin Thomas will likely not be repeating his Hawaii double from three years ago after projecting towards a missed cut on Friday. RELATED: Leaderboard | Players to Watch in 2020: Justin Thomas Thomas was one shot better than Thursday as high winds continued to buffet Waialae Country Club but his 72-71 start left him 3 over and projected a shot or two outside the likely cut. A winner a week ago at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, his 12th TOUR win, Thomas was hoping to have history repeat in Honolulu. Three years ago after winning in Maui he opened with a 59 at Waialae before going on to win in record fashion. Wet and windy conditions have ensured there will be no scoring records this time around but Thomas was still disappointed to fall out of contention. While he admitted the near 40 mph gusts make things hard, he still felt like a better performance could have been forthcoming. “I played like crap so I deserve to have a weekend off … it’s pretty terrible to miss the cut here the way I’ve been playing,â€� Thomas said. “Everybody had to play (in the wind) so there’s no excuse. If anything I should have had an advantage, I had a week in it last week to get ready for it if you will. I just wasn’t sharp, making some mental mistakes, I just really struggled.â€� Thomas – who had been proud of his ability to stay focused on the greens in Maui – said he couldn’t maintain the same execution this week. When he signed his card, albeit with half the field left to finish their second round, Thomas had lost over 4.5 strokes to the field in putting for the week. “I played fine. I played plenty good enough to be at 4- or 5-under and right in contention. (But) I missed about every putt,â€� he confirmed. “I think honestly playing the course as often as I have in the past hurt me this year because it’s just so weird the greens being as soft as they are, especially out of the rough when the ball flies as much as it does.â€� It would be the first missed cut for Thomas this season and first since the U.S. Open last June. At this stage Thomas is still projected to maintain the lead in the FedExCup despite the early exit although a few players could steal it from him with a hot weekend.
