Max Homa has claimed his first victory in a long while after he edged past Tony Finau at the second hole of the play-off at the Genesis Invitational. Both players finished 12 under and Homa managed to card a bogey-free 66.
Overnight leader, Sam Burns finished 11 under at third place while Spanish player Jon Rahm finished tied with Matthew Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland at fifth place. World number one, Dustin Johnson finished at 6 under and was tied with Francesco Molinari.
Burns started his day with a two-shot advantage that further widened as he made a few birdies. It was not until the sixth hole that he began to feel threatened by Homa. Homa went on to play back-to-back birdies while Burns made a six-foot birdie at the ninth. Finau made three birdies in four holes to get within the lead. Burns’ woes started after the 14th where he dropped consecutive shots. This saw him lose his advantage. Finau was now at the lead and made a birdie on the 16th after a bogeyed 15th. He then made a birdie on the 17th, only for Homa to make a birdie too. Both were 12 under, which was the clubhouse target.
Homa failed to make a birdie at the 18th while Finau made par on the final hole. The game then went to a play-off. Finau failed to make a birdie at the first play-off hole while Homa matched Finau with a par. Finau also failed to take advantage of his long-shot at the second hole. Homa was able to turn a 12-foot shot to par to win the tournament.
This is Homa’s first title since 2019 and is his second tour win. He now moves up to 10th position on the FedEx Cup standings. Finau has been chasing a PGA Tour title for a long time now since winning his last title in 2016. The Genesis Invitational was hosted by the Tiger Woods Foundation.
Written by: Leon Osamor
