Utah's Tony Finau one shot off British Open first-round lead

SALT LAKE CITY — Tony Finau's remarkable run of form on the PGA Tour’s major championships continued Thursday in Scotland.

The Salt Lake City native shot 4-under-par 67 in Thursday’s opening round of the British Open at Carnoustie Golf Club in Angus, Scotland, finishing just one shot back of the leader Kevin Kisner at the end of the round.

"It's nice to be in contention again in a major, in the third one this year," Finau said during a media scrum broadcast on Golf Channel. "I enjoy playing in the big moments, and my game and mind fit championship golf, I feel.

"It gives me a lot of confidence and a lot of peace to play at a high level."

Finau had an up-and-down round Thursday, totaling eight birdies with four bogeys, as he finished tied for second with Erik van Rooyen and Zander Lombard of South Africa.

But the West High graduate who calls Lehi home put himself in a great position to improve on what is becoming his best season since turning pro in 2007.

Finau has just one PGA Tour victory in his lengthy career, but has put together top-10 performances at the previous two majors in 2018. He was four strokes behind Brooks Koepka for a fifth-place finish at the U.S. Open, and carded a 7-under 281 to finished tied for 10th at the Masters while playing on a dislocated ankle suffered during the pre-tournament Par-3 Contest.

"I try not to look at them too different," Finau said of his form in majors. "There's a lot of hype involved in all of these tournaments, as there should be in majors. We play the game, I love the game, and I enjoy the game. But if you get too stressed out in these type of tournaments, you’ll kill yourself."

The second round of the British Open begins late Thursday night on Golf Channel. Finau is scheduled to tee off at 8:32 a.m. MT.

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