In the last edition of the Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park, Tony Finau tied a tournament record with an 8-under 62 in the second round en route to victory.
Well, he did the first part again.
On Friday, Finau shot 8-under 62, again tying the tournament record to move to 9 under overall and three clear of the field before the afternoon wave teed off. Finau got hot on his final nine holes, the front nine, which included a stretch of playing Nos. 3-8 in 6 under. The highlight was a chip-in eagle on the par-5 eighth.
“I think my 62 in the fall was actually better,” Finau said. “The golf course can yield some birdies here from the rough because the rough’s so much shorter. Yeah, I think my 62 in the fall was a little more impressive just in that you had to hit the fairway. When you’re playing bermudagrass, hitting out of bermuda rough is just ridiculous. I think when I shot 62, I hit 14 out of 14 fairways and that was quite impressive.
“But 62 is good anytime of the year and I’ll take the one today.”
The big change Friday for Finau was his putting. In his opening 69, Finau beat only five golfers in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting, losing three shots. In the second round, he gained nearly four shots on the greens and was first in the field after the morning wave.
“It’s nice to have my coach out here, Boyd Summerhays,” Finau said. “He noticed a little setup change that he mentioned might help. I’d say it definitely helped today.”
The Houston Open is one of four tournaments Finau has defended his title at in the past year, and he said that pressure to perform is always a bit elevated.
Rounds like he had Friday help make that go away.
“It’s a place that you’ve played well, obviously a course that I really like, so there’s that added pressure on both fronts,” Finau said. “Overall, it’s a place that I have great memories coming back to. I get great support here from the fans. It is pressure, but I look forward to coming back and defending any title that I win.”
Grace Summerhays’ first round at Pebble Beach Golf Links was the stuff of dreams. After an early-morning fog delay, Grace partnered with her dad, Boyd, in a match against her two brothers, Cameron and Preston. Fittingly, the match ended in a tie.
What made the round even more special for Grace, 18, was it doubled as a practice round for the 78th U.S. Women’s Open. The historic championship, which gets underway July 6, marks the first time a women’s major will be contested at Pebble Beach, site of six previous U.S. Opens won by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Tom Kite, Graeme McDowell and Gary Woodland.
“I almost can’t even comprehend it,” said Grace, one of 27 amateurs in the field.
Grace isn’t the first Summerhays to play in a U.S. Open this summer. Older brother Preston, 20, made his second U.S. Open appearance last month at Los Angeles Country Club. Both Preston and Grace play collegiate golf at Arizona State and have spent time practicing together at Silverleaf Golf Club in Scottsdale with former Sun Devil Jon Rahm, the 2021 U.S. Open and 2023 Masters champion.
Their father and coach, Boyd, is Tony Finau’s longtime instructor. The Summerhays’ impressive golf legacy, however, extends well beyond the immediate family.
Bruce Summerhays, Boyd’s uncle, won three times on the PGA Tour Champions, and Boyd’s younger brother, Daniel, played eight years on the PGA Tour. His cousin Carrie Roberts, now head coach at BYU, became the first Utah-born woman to qualify for the LPGA.
Boyd, a former top-ranked junior who played collegiate golf at Oklahoma State, earned his PGA Tour card in 2003 and played the AT&T Pebbe Beach Pro-Am three times. Pebble Beach is Boyd’s favorite course, and he’ll be on the bag this week for Grace. Boyd choked up when Grace advanced through the 36-qualifier in Scottsdale. She turns 19 on championship Sunday.
“Just to share these moments with my kids, not as a coach and students but just as a dad,” said Boyd, “it’s honestly more than that I could dream.”
Summerhays family poses at Pebble Beach: Boyd, Barbara, Grace, Cameron, Preston (courtesy Grace Summerhays)
Grace grew up training (from the same tees) with her older brother, Preston, and carried a competitive, ready-to-go attitude to Arizona State. Head coach Missy Farr-Kaye describes the rising junior as feisty and fun.
“It’s a really a beautiful thing to watch,” said Farr-Kaye of Grace’s approach to the game, “one of those things you want to rub off on everybody.”
Preston, 20, said Grace’s driving is her greatest strength. Her ball speed is 145 mph and her swing speed hovers in the high 90s.
“She hits it very straight,” said Boyd, “and she hits great flighted, spinning wedge shots. And she can putt.”
Grace will be nervous, Boyd predicted, but she won’t be intimidated. At age 16, she became the youngest Utah State Amateur champion in the event’s 114-year history. After graduating from high school early, Grace joined the Sun Devils midseason in 2022. She finished the spring season No. 74 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings; brother Preston, the 2019 U.S. Junior champion, ranked ninth.
There was a time, Grace said, when she felt pressure to live up to Preston’s success. Farr-Kaye knows what that feels like. Still battles it from time to time, in fact, walking by a life-sized statue of older sister, Heather, on the way to her office every morning.
“I know what it’s like to try to live up to your older sibling,” said Farr-Kaye. “It’s a losing battle.
“We’ve had some good conversations about that. Your journeys are different, and they’re meant to be different.”
The Summerhays family is a tight bunch. While they don’t get to practice together as much as they did in junior golf, Grace said she’s always learning something from Preston, particularly when it comes to short game. There isn’t a chip shot, bunker shot or pitch that Grace is afraid to try, said Farr-Kaye.
“It’s an amazing dynamic,” said Grace of her relationship with Preston. “We’re super competitive and hate to lose to each other, but at the same time, we both want the best for each other.”
A self-described perfectionist, Grace said she’s most grateful for her dad’s ability to separate being a dad from being a coach.
“I’ve seen with other junior golfers and amateurs, it’s just hard for the parents to separate the two,” noted Grace.
What’s the secret to their family’s success?
“We work really hard, and really smart,” said Preston. “My dad has raised us and trained us really, really tough.”
But when it comes to game time, Boyd does everything he can to take the pressure off. Phrases like Just play free; You’re doing great; You’re getting so much experience; We’re heading in the right direction, pepper their text threads.
“I always text my kids before any competitive round to say ‘I love you, proud of you and just go play,’ ” said Boyd.
“If they train as hard, as my kids have, and invested so much of their life and time, and they’re super competitive – they’re already going to be amped up. Parents don’t need to add to that.
“Kids need to know that no matter what, just being here is a huge accomplishment, and as a parent, it’s pretty special.”
Finau parted with Greg Bodine this week and has swing instructor Boyd Summerhays doing double duty.
Tony Finau may have had a familiar face on his bag at the 3M Open, but it wasn’t his longtime caddie.
Finau split with Greg Bodine, his caddie since his rookie PGA Tour season in 2014-15, and is relying on his swing instructor, former PGA Tour player Boyd Summerhays as a one-week fill-in while searching for a full-time replacement. Finau may want to consider extending the double duty for his coach as Finau posted an opening-round 6-under 65 at TPC Twin Cities to share the lead with Ryan Moore, Nick Watney and Xinjun Zhang.
“It’s good to have him out,” Finau said of Summerhays. “I’ve had him in the past carry my bag and it’s nice to have him see things up close, I think, inside the ropes. Just with everything going on, you can’t really watch, so the best way I think for a coach to see it is maybe inside the ropes, so a little change this week.”
Finau, 30, is ranked No. 17 in the Official World Golf Ranking and has played on the last U.S. Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams, but hasn’t won since the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. Earlier this season, he held a two-stroke lead with two holes to play at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, but lost to Webb Simpson in a playoff. Last week, he was the 36-hole leader at the Memorial, but stumbled on the weekend, including a 78 on Sunday to finish T-8.
Of the breakup with Bodine, Finau said, “On a personal level I love the guy and on a business level I felt it was time for a change in my situation and something just different.”
Finau fired on all cylinders Thursday, hitting 17 of 18 greens in regulation, tying his career-most in that category – the sixth time he’s done so. He birdied three of the first four holes on his second nine, including driller a right-to-left bending 22-foot birdie putt at the third hole. He made his lone bogey at the seventh hole when his approach sailed long, but he bounced back at the next hole by knocking his tee shot at the 195-yard par 3 to 13 feet and canned his seventh birdie of the day. It marked Finau’s sixth straight sub-70 opening round.
Despite having a pop-gun swing, Finau consistently has been one of the game’s longest hitters and inspired by the distance gains by Bryson DeChambeau, who leads the Tour in average driving distance, he has begun chasing extra yards off the tee. As Finau recounted, he was wrapping up his practice round on the ninth green at the RBC Heritage last month when his concentration was broken.
“All I could hear was this commotion on the driving range. Of course, I look over and nobody’s hitting golf balls except Bryson. They’re videoing him and watching him send drives over the fence and he’s flying it no problem,” Finau said. “There’s only been a couple of times on the driving range on the PGA Tour, that guys that I’ve seen literally stop and watch one guy hit and that happened at Harbour Town.”
Speaking last week at the Memorial, Finau said, “For me I was like, well, let me try this thing out, reach back and see if I can hit it as straight. I don’t think I’m hitting it quite as straight as him, but it’s worked out so far.”
Finau’s game is a good fit for TPC Twin Cities, where birdies in bunches are required. Two weeks ago, Finau broke his course record at Victory Ranch Golf Club in Park City, Utah. He was 14-under par through 16. His career-low round is 58 and he wanted one more birdie for 57, but he bogeyed the 17th and settled for 59.
“That would have been pretty dang special,” Finau said.
So, too, would be getting back into the winner’s circle this week at the 3M Open.
