2021 BMW Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Caves Valley

Tony Finau was finally able to tell the monkey living on his back the last five years to get lost.

Finau found himself in the penultimate group and just two shots off the lead Monday at The Northern Trust.

A ho-hum front nine 1-under 35 featuring a bogey on the par-5 7th made it look like this was just going to be another high finish without a win. He had eight runner-up finishes since his lone PGA Tour win at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. One of them came earlier this year when he lost a playoff at the Genesis Open to Max Homa.

A stupendous back-nine 30 at Liberty National got him into a playoff once again. This time it was with 54-hole co-leader Cameron Smith. Finau watched Smith’s long birdie putt come up short in regulation.

Finau was poised with the putter all day and finished 16th in the field by gaining nearly four shots on the greens on the week. That’s a key determinant in if the usually steady ball striker will ascend the leaderboard or not.

Fortunately for him, he didn’t have to lean on it in the playoff. Finau clutched up and drove it in the fairway on the first playoff hole, the 18th. That put the pressure on Smith, who drove it out of bounds and nearly went OB again.

Finau made just four bogeys all week and no doubles or worse. He was second in SG tee to green, gaining over 10 on the week in that department.

Not only will this be huge for Finau’s psyche (despite what the haters will say about Finau getting it done at a fan-less final round), but it boosts the American’s chance of receiving a pick from captain Steve Stricker for the Ryder Cup.