/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24672452/AP23138765496029.jpg)
Favorable scoring conditions returned to Oak Hill Country Club on Sunday for the final round of the PGA Championship, but Tony Finau’s stellar play in majors did not.
Finau closed his 28th major with a disappointing 7-over-par 77 and the native Utahn finished the tournament tied for 72nd place. Brooks Koepka captured the Wanamaker Trophy, finishing the tournament at 90-under-par 271.
His 15-over was his worst showing ever in a major in which he’s made the cut.
Of the players who made the cut, which came at +5, only Mark Hubbard (+18) and Kazuki Higa (+20) placed below Finau, who failed to make a birdie on Sunday.
He did make four bogeys and a triple bogey on the par-3 11th hole, carding a 6 after finding trouble off the tee.
After the disaster on 11, Finau made six straight pars — no easy feat at the difficult layout in western New York — but finished with a bogey on the par-4 18th, three-putting from inside 10 feet.
It was that kind of day for the 33-year-old father of five, who had entered the tournament as one of the hottest golfers on tour.
Although putting was Finau’s issue Sunday, it was his inability to avoid Oak Hill’s gnarly rough that led to his downfall during the first three rounds. Before the tournament, the West High graduate spoke extensively about needing to drive the ball well, and straight, to stay in contention at the narrow, 7,500-yard layout.
Obviously, he didn’t do that.
Finau’s previous worst performance in a cut-made major came in the 2019 PGA Championship, when he tied for 64th at Bethpage Black in New York.
The next major is the U.S. Open, which will be contested June 15-18 at the Los Angeles Country Club.
Brooks Koepka celebrates with his caddie Ricky Elliott after winning the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club on Sunday, May 21, 2023, in Pittsford, N.Y.
Abbie Parr, Associated Press
