Finau wins Rocket Mortgage for second straight PGA Tour victory

DETROIT (AP) — Tony Finau ran away with the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday at Detroit Golf Club to become the first PGA Tour player in three years to win consecutive regular-season events.

Finau closed with a 5-under 67 for a five-shot victory and a tournament-record 26-under 262 total. Canada's Taylor Pendrith (72), Patrick Cantlay (66) and rookie of the year front-runner Cameron Young (68) tied for second.

Finau and Pendrith, from Richmond Hill, Ont., started Sunday tied but their potential duel in Detroit turned out to be a dud.

Pendrith had his first lacklustre round of the tournament after he shared the first-round lead with Finau, led him by one shot after the second and matched his 21-under total through three rounds.

The 31-year-old PGA Tour rookie from Canada hit an errant tee shot on the second hole to the right in the rough behind tree branches — after being distracted by a fan running across the fairway — and later pulled a nine-foot to lose the lead for good.

Finau, meanwhile, coasted to his fourth career victory, a third title in 11-plus months. He was the 3M Open winner last week in Minnesota, where he rallied from five strokes back to win by three. Brendon Todd was the last to win two straight in the regular season, doing it in 2019.

Finau, the Salt Lake City native with Tongan-Samoan heritage, began his stretch of success last August at The Northern Trust, where he had his first victory in five years and 142 PGA Tour starts.

Finau stopped another drought in Detroit, winning for the first time in six attempts when he had or shared the 54-hole lead in a PGA Tour event. With his sixth birdie at No. 17 and a closing par, he broke Nate Lashley's tournament record of 25 under set in 2019 during the