SCOTTSDALE – Two weeks ago, Tony Finau moved his family from his native Utah to just up the road from TPC Scottsdale, approximately a 6-minute drive door-to-door. He will head into the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open sleeping in his own bed on a one-stroke lead after tying his career-low round on the PGA Tour with a blistering bogey-free 9-under 62.
“That’s about as good as you can play out here,” said Jon Rahm, who played in Finau’s threesome at TPC Scottsdale.
Finau got off to a quick start with birdies at the first and third and then drilled a 21-footer at No. 8 and a 9-footer at No. 9 to turn in 31. His putter stayed hot on the back as he rolled in a 27-foot birdie putt at 12 and then surged into a tie for the lead with an eagle at the par-5 13th.
“That was the first time he hit a driver into the fairway this week,” said Finau’s caddie Greg Bodine. “That made all the difference in the world.”
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Finau, who has power to burn averaging 309 yards off the tee, hit 12 out of 14 fairways, a day after hitting only six and he took advantage. He drilled a 5-iron to 20 feet and rolled in the eagle putt. Finau smoked his approach from 230 yards even closer at the par-5 15th, but missed the 6-foot eagle putt and settled for birdie.
He had one more birdie left in his arsenal, his seventh of the day, sticking a sand wedge from 129 yards to 5 feet at the par-3 16th hole while donning a Kobe Bryant jersey in homage to the NBA legend he idolized.
“Damn near made it,” Finau said. “That would have been pretty sweet with the Kobe jersey on. But I like that shot. That was pretty nice.”
As was signing for 62 and becoming the first player this season with three rounds of 62 or better. Finau posted a 54-hole total of 16-under 197 and one stroke better than Webb Simpson, whose 64 on Saturday included an ace at the 196-yard 12th hole. Hudson Swafford (66) and J.B. Holmes (70), who is seeking his third WMPO title, are tied for third another stroke behind.
Bryant’s death on Jan. 26 hit Finau, who lost his mother to a car crash and is the father of four, particularly hard. For three days, he has been channeling the “Mamba Mentality,” which he described as “hard work and love for your craft.”
“I think that’s his lasting legacy,” Finau added.
Finau’s coach, Boyd Summerhays, said that his star pupil found something in his swing three weeks ago — he’s 43-under in his last 11 rounds — and credited it for Finau’s strong showing the first three rounds. When asked to explain what he found on the range, Finau demurred.
“It’s helped, no question,” he said. “I think I need to keep that to myself for now, but sometimes one swing thought seems to work for a while and this one has worked for three weeks and we’ve got one more day and hopefully it’s still there.”
The question for Finau is can he close the deal on Sunday? Despite being ranked No. 13 in the world and representing Team USA in the last Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup team competitions, Finau has only one career victory on the PGA Tour at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. (He’s 0-2 with the 54-hole lead.)
When asked to identify what has held Finau back, Golf Channel commentator Brandel Chamblee didn’t hesitate: “Nothing,” he said. “At any minute he could go off. He is more on the cusp of breaking out that any player in golf right now. He may do a David Duval and win three, four times this season.”
Finau has been vocal that a good season for him has to include ending his victory drought, and he didn’t shy away from addressing its importance in his post-round press conference.
“If I want to accomplish the things I feel like I can accomplish, I have to put those type of expectations on myself,” Finau said. “So, I look forward to tomorrow. My game’s in a good place and I always tell myself whatever happens, you’re going to learn from it and get better and stronger. As long as it doesn’t kill you, you know, I’m still standing here punching and I’m going to do that for the rest of my career. So, I got 18 holes to try and win this golf tournament and my expectation is exactly that.”
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