Brandon Wu and Tony Finau have applied late pressure to Jon Rahm at the Mexico Open. The world No 2 from Spain edged ahead and gained the 14th position before closing with four successive pars. He remained out in front and achieved his goals. Kurt Kitayama will be sharing his second after triple-bogey costs Cameron Champ
Jon Rahm carded a two-under 69 while playing his final round. He secured a one-shot victory in the Mexico Open at Vidanta Vallarta. The 27-year-old Spaniard held charges from the American duo Tony Finau and Brandon Wu and finished off his 17-under 267. He claimed his seventh PGA Tour title.
Jon Rahm Claims His Victory
Finau and Wu closed with eight-under 63s. He had to settle for second place alongside his competitor Kurt Kitayama. Rahm held firm under pressure and won in the closing stages.
World No 2 Rahm started the day and played a two-shot cushion over Kitayama and Cameron Champ. He achieved five successive pars to open his round. He saw an advantage halved by early birdies and won over the American pair.
The Spaniard was steady. His risk-free golf out in front produced a couple of superb iron shots. He notched back-to-back birdies at the sixth and seventh. This move was matched by Kitayama and Champ.
Match Highlights
The wheels fell off when Champ at the eighth, pushed his tee shot in the water’s edge. He hacked out and hooked his third left of the green. He made his way to the triple-bogey seven.
Kitayama faltered when he found out that the water off the 10th tee for the third day achieved success in a row. Wu, who had eagled the sixth, made rapid progress. Rahm was in the lead on 16 under and he rolled out to the 25-foot putt at the 16th.
Kitayama made his way to the three-way tie for the lead. Rahm could only make a par even though he had a wayward third shot. Finau also put himself in a tight spot.
Wu failed to add another birdie in the final two holes. The competitive course record was set at the clubhouse target of 16 for those that were behind.
Rahm Statement About The Match
Rahm missed the decent birdie chance after an excellent tee shot. He secured the victory with another steady and drove into the left rough.
“It was a pretty stressful weekend all the way to the end,” said Rahm, whose previous win came back at the 2021 US Open. “I didn’t think having a par-five [18th] where a fade off the tee was required I would be stressing this much, but I got it done at the end.
“I let my frustrations out a few times out there but I stayed positive and hopeful and I think it showed in my swings. It wasn’t my best putting weekend but I stayed aggressive and I think the shot on 17 showed that.
“I was confident in what I was doing, I had faith in every part of my game. A couple of those great par putts early on helped out a lot and the one putt from outside five feet that finally went in on 14 was a huge booster.”
