Genesis Invitational: Max Homa snatches playoff victory as Tony Finau suffers another near-miss

Max Homa snatched a dramatic victory at the Genesis Invitational, as Tony Finau fell short again in his bid for a second PGA Tour title.

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Genesis Invitational

Homa missed a three-foot birdie opportunity on the 72nd hole to win the tournament in regulation, with a bogey-free 66 seeing him locked alongside Finau on 12 under at Riviera Country Club.

Finau, who jumped up the leaderboard with a round-of-the-day 64, squandered a putt for the win at the first extra play-off hole and then bogeyed the next, meaning a par was enough for Homa to claim a first PGA Tour win since the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship.

Overnight leader Sam Burns finished a shot back in third ahead of Australia’s Cameron Smith, while Jon Rahm ended the week on seven under and tied-fifth with Matthew Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland.

Burns, starting with a two-shot advantage despite returning early on Sunday morning to finish a third-round 74, extended his lead by following a close-range birdie at the par-five first by rolling in from 10 feet to pick up another shot at the third.

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The world No 149 holed a six-footer to save par at the sixth but saw his lead cut to one when Homa – playing in the group ahead – posted back-to-back birdies from the sixth, only for Burns to respond by firing his approach at the seventh to tap-in range.

Burns made a six-foot birdie at the ninth to reach the turn three ahead and holed a 10-foot putt to scramble a par at the next after duffing a chip from the back rough, as Homa picked up a shot at the 10th and Finau made three birdies in a four-hole stretch to both get within two of the lead.

The leader narrowly avoided going out of bounds off the 12th tee and converted from six feet to get away with a bogey, before losing advantage after posting successive dropped shots from the 14th.

Finau moved ahead by bouncing back from a bogey at the 15th to hole from 10 feet at the 16th and pick up a shot at the par-five next, seeing him set the clubhouse target at 12 under, only for Homa to move alongside him by matching his birdie at the 17th.

.@MaxHoma23 birdies 17 to get to -12.

He heads to 18 in a tie for the lead. ?#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/mUZ96im8iz

Homa squandered a glorious birdie opportunity at the 18th, missing from three feet, while Burns just missed out on making it a three-way playoff after following a birdie at the 17th with a final-hole par.

The playoff started at the par-four tenth, where Homa recovered from his tee shot finishing alongside a tree to match the par by Finau – who failed to convert an eight-foot birdie putt for victory.

Finau then failed to get up and down from the greenside bunker at the par-three 14th, the second extra hole, as Homa struck his tee-shot to 12 feet and two-putted for a winning par.

Fitzpatrick went into the final round two off the lead but slipped out of contention with a final-round 71, while world No 1 Dustin Johnson – playing alongside the Englishman and Burns in the final group – finished five strokes back in tied-eighth after carding a one-over 72.

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