Tag: Tony Finau

Tony Finau shoots down LIV Golf rumors and gives legit reason for withdrawing from Hero World Challenge

Finau gave Golfweek a good explanation for why he withdrew from this week’s Hero World Challenge.

NASSAU, Bahamas — There’s a good explanation for why Tony Finau withdrew from this week’s Hero World Challenge. Finau underwent surgery on Oct. 15 to repair a torn meniscus and remove cartilage in his left knee.

“From what my doctor told me it was pretty standard clean up,” he told Golfweek via phone on Wednesday. “He said it would be helpful and so I did it.”

Finau’s WD from the Hero and the fact he hasn’t officially registered for the Sentry, the kickoff to the 2025 PGA Tour season, fueled speculation on social media that Finau, ranked No. 26 in the Official World Golf Ranking and one of the game’s most popular players off of his appearance in Netflix’s “Full Swing” documentary, may be headed to LIV Golf.

“They’re not true,” he said of the rumors and called the sources “random people” and “not credible.” He continued. “I’m more than happy where I’m at on the PGA Tour and looking forward to 2025. When I tee it up in Maui, it will all go away, so, I don’t worry about it one bit.”

2024 Tour Championship
Tony Finau plays his shot from the cart path along the first fairway during the first round of the 2024 Tour Championship. (John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)

Finau, 35, said his knee will be “ready to rock and roll” in time for the Sentry, which begins Jan. 2. For now, Finau is still working his way back to full strength and was a late scratch last week from the Hero Challenge, a tournament he has competed in the last four years with a career-best of second in 2018. He had never finished worse than T-7.

“I called Tiger and made sure he knew,” Finau said. “He said, ‘I would’ve told you to do the same thing.’ ”

Finau said the knee had bothered him all season, but he was able to wait until after playing for the victorious U.S. side at the Presidents Cup before undergoing surgery. He didn’t hurt his knee on a particular shot, but his doctor said the injury was caused by wear and tear through the years. Particles of cartilage had been floating around in his knee and causing inflammation. He hasn’t been able to bend down to read putts for several years, he said.

Finau had a similar issue with his right knee in previous seasons but opted out of surgery on his right knee, choosing to do therapy and training.

Finau is currently scheduled to compete in the Grant Thornton Invitational, a team event with the LPGA where he is paired with Nelly Korda. Finau is a Grant Thornton ambassador and while playing two weeks in a row seemed to be too much too soon, he said his knee is improving and said he’s 50-50 for next week, noting he’s still having trouble getting out of bunkers and putting weight on his lead leg on bunker shots.

“That’s my biggest issue right now,” he said. “I’ll go over and practice the next couple of days and see how I feel and make a decision.”

But Finau is pleased with the progress his knee is making and is confident he will be ready to go on the PGA Tour in January.

“The last couple of seasons have been kind of rough with my knees,” he said. “I’m optimistic about this coming season about being more fully healthy than ever.”

Tony Finau withdraws from field at 2024 Hero World Challenge

Sepp Straka will replace Finau in the field.

Big Tone isn’t going to play in the Hero World Challenge after he withdrew.

Tony Finau, No. 26 in the Official World Golf Ranking, won’t tee it up this week at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas for Tiger Woods’ silly-season event. Finau hasn’t played since the Presidents Cup, where he went 2-2-0 in Team USA’s win.

No reason was given from Finau for the WD. Sepp Straka, who finished runner-up in 2023 to Scottie Scheffler, replaced Finau in the field.

Finau had five top-10 finishes in 22 starts during the 2024 season, making the Tour Championship. He didn’t win, though he did place T-2 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, an event he was the defending champ at.

As Monday Q Info pointed out Monday morning on X, Finau is eligible but also is not listed on the initial entry list for the 2024 Sentry, the season-opening event at Kapalua in 2025.

2024 Hero World Challenge field

Golfer Country
Scottie Scheffler U.S.
Ludvig Aberg Sweden
Wyndham Clark U.S.
Akshay Bhatia U.S.
Patrick Cantlay U.S.
Sahith Theegala U.S.
Keegan Bradley U.S.
Russell Henley U.S.
Robert MacIntyre Scotland
Sam Burns U.S.
Brian Harman U.S.
Sungjae Im Korea
Sepp Straka Austria
Tom Kim Korea
Aaron Rai England
Cameron Young U.S.
Matthieu Pavon France
Justin Thomas U.S.
Jason Day Australia
Nick Dunlap U.S.

The best Halloween costumes from around golf including Rory McIlroy as Mario, Nelly Korda as Master Splinter

Who had the best costume?

On Thursday, some of the biggest names in golf joined in on the Halloween festivities and showed off their awesome costumes. There were some notable ones, including Rory McIlroy as Super Mario and world No. 1 Nelly Korda as Master Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Some of the other players who posted photos of their Halloween costumes were Tony Finau, Gary Woodland, Sam Burns and Billy Horschel.

If you’re interested in checking out some of our other Halloween content, these are worth a look: Boo! In honor of Halloween, take a closer look at some of the scariest shots, and holes, in golf | 8 pieces of Halloween-themed golf gear to help you celebrate the spooky season

Best PGA Tour, LPGA Halloween costumes

Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald

Camilo Villegas

https://www.instagram.com/camilovillegasofficial/p/DBz9VYLIxcG/?hl=en

Tony Finau

https://www.instagram.com/tonyfinaugolf/reel/DB1FTv6vArq/?hl=en

Sam Burns

https://www.instagram.com/samburns66/p/DBzjk3CyzrT/?hl=en

Gary Woodland

https://www.instagram.com/gary.woodland/p/DBzjO-9vs-l/?hl=en

Billy Horschel

Byeong Hun An

Zac Blair

Nelly and Jessica Korda

https://www.instagram.com/thejessicakorda/p/DBziIHgJx5-/?hl=en

Here’s the (very legit) reason why Utah native Tony Finau is skipping the inaugural Black Desert Championship

The Black Desert Championship will make its debut without one of its favorite sons.

With the PGA Tour headed to the Beehive State for the first time in more than 60 years, the organizers of the inaugural Black Desert Championship decided to trot out as many Utah natives as they could – from Tour members Zac Blair and Patrick Fishburn to 65-year-old veteran Jay Don Blake, who is expected to make his fond farewell from the game after his 500th start. (Current BYU golfer Zac Jones and former Cougar stars Peter Kuest and Mike Weir, not long after his role as International Team captain at the Presidents Cup, also are representing in Ivins, Utah, as is 18-year-old Utahn Kihe Akina, who is making his Tour debut, and Dustin Volk, who qualified through the Utah PGA Section.)

But one local product is missing – world No. 24 and fan-favorite Tony Finau isn’t teeing it up this week. Even though his status for next season is locked up and he technically has nothing to gain (other than further lining his pockets, which added more than $5.7 million to date this year in official earnings), he’s a shoo-in to play a Tour event in his own backyard, no, and bring some much-needed star power to the brand-spanking new event?

The Thanksgiving Point All-Stars are headed to the PGA Jr. League 13-and-under championship.

Well, it turns out Finau has a legit excuse and he doesn’t need a doctor’s slip for it. Finau, 35, is the assistant coach for the PGA Junior League’s Thanksgiving Point All-Stars, which are competing in the 13-and-under division of the National Car Rental PGA Jr. League Championship. Finau has a conflict with coaching duties – his 12-year-old son Jraice is a member of the team – and will be in Frisco, Texas at Fields Ranch West, Oct. 10-13.

“It was a tough decision but it really wasn’t a decision at all,” Finau told Golfweek at the Presidents Cup two weeks ago. “I’m committed to being a coach and I’ve got to help coach the team.”

2024 PGA Championship
Tony Finau reacts after a putt on the first green during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Valhalla Golf Club. (Photo: Jon Durr-USA TODAY Sports)

The Thanksgiving Point All-Stars also include Nicklaus Miller, grandson of Hall of Famer and former NBC lead analyst Johnny Miller, who recently qualified for the National Finals of the Drive, Chip and Putt at Augusta National.

The Thanksgiving Point All-Stars took care of the Bend Bombers 1 All-Star Team, 11-1, in match play on Sept. 8 to advance to the finals in Frisco. Jraice Finau got the Utah team off to a fast start when he chipped in for eagle on the first hole. The team, led by Coach Tele Wightman, PGA, returns to the championship after finishing as runners-up in 2023. This hasn’t been fact-checked but going out on a limb to say there aren’t too many other Jr. League teams with a six-time Tour winner and member of the victorious U.S. Presidents Cup team who serves as an assistant coach.

So, the Black Desert Championship will make its debut without one of its favorite sons but the tournament is signed up for the next four years. Hopefully, Finau will be able to bring his many talents to the lone pro event in his home state before too long.

Tony Finau confronted with ‘pay your debts’ signs by protestors at Utah golf course

Finau is scheduled to be in court in September.

Protestors gathered at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington, Utah, earlier this week to protest Tony Finau, holding signs with messages such as “Tony Pay Your Debts” and “Tony Pay Your Family Back.”

Finau has been in a long-running dispute over money he’s alleged to owe investors who funded his early professional playing career.

Finau arrived at the golf course Monday morning to find about 12 or so people at the front gates of the course where he holds his annual golf tournament and clinic

In a report by deseret.com, protestors were there more than two hours before Finau and his family arrived.

“This is all about awareness,” protest organizer Rocky Bowlby told the Deseret News. “No one knows the real Tony.”

The news outlet tried to get comment from Finau but was told to leave the premises.

Deseret News reports that:

Bowlby said Finau or his family members such as father Kelepi “Gary” Finau and brother Gipper Finau owe him more than $100,000 for loans, rent payments, cars, travel to China, and the like, but he is not seeking compensation through legal action.

Monolai Hola, however, is taking such action. In a lawsuit he filed against Finau, Hola claims he’s owed more than $600,000 and is also seeking 20 percent of Finau’s professional winnings, according to court documents.

There were two cases against Finau but one of them was dropped in February. Hola’s suit is scheduled for trial in September and Desert News reports it’s most certainly not going to be settled out of court ahead of time.

After coming oh-so-close at the British Open, Billy Horschel is ‘back on the horse’ at the 3M Open

Horschel left Royal Troon with a mixture of disappointment and pride.

BLAINE, Minn. – All year long as he’s competed on the PGA Tour, Billy Horschel has envisioned himself holding a trophy from that week’s tournament before he goes to sleep every night. After taking the 54-hole lead at the 152nd British Open in Scotland on Saturday, he said he would picture himself walking out to the crowd and being congratulated as the Champion Golfer of the Year.

“That’s what I’m going to do again tonight, and hopefully that comes true tomorrow,” he said before the final round at Royal Troon. “If it doesn’t, then I’ll get back on the grind and work harder to get back in a position like this again.”

Horschel didn’t end up hoisting the Claret Jug – he didn’t have enough firepower on Sunday to match Xander Schauffele’s bogey-free 6-under 65 – but Horschel didn’t go down without a fight, making birdie on the final three holes to shoot 3-under 68 and finish tied for second with Justin Rose.

“It’s what’s in my DNA. I’m going to always fight, always going to battle until the end,” Horschel said.

The 37-year-old eight-time Tour winner acquitted himself well, recording his best finish in 43 starts in the majors. Horschel left Troon with a mixture of disappointment – he’s never had a better chance to become a major winner – and pride – that he didn’t lose the tournament, he got beat by a remarkable performance. He said it hit him on the flight to Minneapolis how close he was to making his dream of winning a major come true.

2024 British Open
Billy Horschel acknowledges the crowd on the 18th green after his final round of the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon. (Harry How/Getty Images)

“I just made a few too many mistakes today when I didn’t need to,” he said. “I did a lot of great things that I can take on to the next few years of majors, and hopefully one of these will be my time to step through the door and hold one of them.”

As his post-round press conference concluded on Sunday, Horschel was asked if he still planned to play at this week’s 3M Open. He nodded and said he would be the first person on the range at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday and good to his word, there he was grinding away – he did note that Henrik Norlander may have beaten him to the first bag of range balls – and prepping to chase another trophy.

“I think for someone like Billy, he works so hard at his game that results will always follow and so now we’re looking at him maybe playing the best golf of his career and we could be seeing the best of Billy kind of in these next couple months,” predicted 2022 3M Open winner Tony Finau.

Horschel, the 2014 FedEx Cup champion, has had a bounce-back year after missing out on the FedEx Cup Playoffs and failing to win last season. The veteran Horschel won the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic in April and enters this week at No. 26 in the FedEx Cup.

His confidence has recovered from last year’s low when he shot 12-over 84 in the opening round of the Memorial and delivered an emotional, teary-eyed post-round press conference. Horschel said that he’s come to terms with the fact it’s possible he could end his career like Steve Stricker, Lee Westwood and Kenny Perry before him without a major.

“I’m sure there’s a couple other guys in there that haven’t won majors, that have had really quality careers, and they don’t have a major on their record,” he said. “It’s OK if a major is not in the cards, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not going to work my butt off and do everything I can to sort of change that.”

For Horschel, the work continues this week in the Land of 10,000 Lakes with the firm belief that his best golf is still to come.

“We get back on the horse. We’ll play well this week, we’ll work hard to get better so the next time I have an opportunity to win a major, hopefully we can capitalize on it and be the one holding the trophy at the end,” he said.

Golf equipment used by contenders at the 2024 PGA Championship

Close-up and in-hand images of golf equipment being used by players who are on the first page of the leaderboard at the 2024 PGA Championship.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The rain subsided and the sun eventually came out at Valhalla Golf Club, and as players went through their warmup routines and prepared to take on the course on Saturday and Sunday, Golfweek’s resident gearhead, senior writer David Dusek, was there. Along with his camera, David spent plenty of time in the practice area, observing what each player had in his bag.

The gallery of images below was created throughout the weekend and includes close-up shots of most of the golfers who were in contention to win the Wannamaker trophy and clinch the second major championship of the 2024 season, including the eventual winner, Xander Schauffele.

PGA: Tournament hub | Photos

Masters: Tony Finau awarded a patent for a Ping prototype putter

Finau was presented with a patent certificate in Ping’s PGA Tour van on Wednesday.

When he is faced with a delicate chip from the collar or an awkward shot from a few inches off the green, Tony Finau has been known to turn his putter, a Ping PLD Anser 2D, counter-clockwise in his hands and strike the ball with the toe-end of his putter, popping the ball onto the putting surface.

In fact, he loves the feeling shots like that create so much that he worked with designers and engineers at Ping to build a prototype putter that replicates the sensations of that shot and was just named as one of three people on a utility patent awarded to Ping (U.S. #11,911,670 B2) for a compact putter head. Tony Serrano, Ping’s principal putter design engineer, and John A. Solheim, the company’s president, are also on the patent.

Finau was presented with a patent certificate in Ping’s PGA Tour van on Wednesday outside the gates of Augusta National Golf Club.

“When Tony turns his putter over and hits a putt with the toe, all the mass is directly behind the ball,” Serrano said. “So he came to us and said, ‘How can we make a putter that has some of these feelings and attributes and sounds that I get when I turn this putter over?’”

That led Serrano and his team to develop a few prototypes that would give Finau what he wanted while also conforming to the USGA’s Rules of Golf and equipment standards.

Tony Finau
Tony Finau’s compact prototype putter is shaped like a cube and replicates the feeling of hitting a putt with the toe-end of a putter. (Ping)

The putter that Finau liked and worked with Ping to develop is cube-like in shape, with a small area in the back hollowed out to create some perimeter weighting. There is also a T-shaped alignment system on the top and a plumber’s neck hosel.

“He looks at the top rail of the putter when he turns it. It’s long and right down the center and helps him align the putter with the ball,” Serrano said. The small T accomplishes the same thing and helps Finau focus on a tiny area and make solid contact more easily.

The small hosel was designed and positioned close to the grooved hitting area so that when Finau putts, his stroke has to pull the center of gravity and the putter’s weight, like a traditional putter, instead of pushing the head’s weight as Finau would do with a flipped-over putter.

“Tony said that he plays with this putter all the time,” when he is home in Utah, Serrano said. Finau has yet to use the un-named putter in a PGA Tour event, but he plans to keep using it as a training aid going forward, and Ping plans to study the tiny putter more closely to see whether attributes of it could be designed into future PLD and retail putters.

[fanpower_carousel id=”178″]

Tony Finau adds a second driver for 2024 Masters at Augusta National

Finau realized that unless very unusual conditions arise, he was not going to hit his 3-wood off the ground.

Phil Mickelson won his second green jacket at the 2006 Masters while carrying two drivers in his bag, and it appears that big-hitting Tony Finau is planning to try to capture his first major this week at Augusta National using the same strategy.

According to Kenton Oates, a PGA Tour rep for Ping, Finau is planning to use two Ping G430 LST drivers during the 2024 Masters because, after developing his course strategy, he realized that unless very unusual conditions arise, he was not going to hit his 3-wood off the ground. Perhaps if the anticipated rain on Thursday significantly softened the turf on the par-5 eighth hole, or if the wind blew into Finau on the second shot on that hole, maybe a 3-wood would be in order, but aside from that, he was not going to need the club.

Ping G430 LST driver
Ping G430 LST driver. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

With that in mind, Ping built Finau a second G430 LST driver, built to his 3-wood specifications. Finau’s standard driver is a 9-degree G430 LST, but it has an actual loft of 7.75 degrees and is fitted with a 45.25-inch Mitsubishi Diamana GT 70TX shaft. The stated loft of the 3-wood-replacement-driver is 10.5 degrees, but with the adjustable hosel set to the small minus position, Kenton Oates, a PGA Tour rep for Ping estimates the head has about 8.9 degrees of loft. Ping gave the short driver to him last week in Texas.  Finau brought the shorter driver to Augusta with the rest of his gear this week.

MASTERS: Live updates | Thursday tee times | TV, streaming

“It’s probably going to give him a carry distance of about 290 yards and then roll out to about 300,” Oates said. “It’s still going to go really far. Tony was getting ball speeds with his gamer driver in the high 180s and ball speeds with the little one in the low 180s on the range this week.”

According to Oates, the increased loft and shorter shaft allow Finau to shut the face more aggressively and produce the draw-style flight. That shot shape could be very handy on the newly lengthened second hole, as well as the seventh, 10th, 13th, 14th and 17th holes, which all encourage a right-to-left shot.

Past the Masters, Oates explained, Finau and other pros may start to consider carrying two drivers more frequently because if they don’t need to play a 3-wood off the turf to reach par 5s, elite golfers could find having a draw driver and a fade driver to be an advantage worth exploring.

This slight putting change helped Tony Finau tie course record (again) at Houston Open

“I think my 62 in the fall was actually better.”

HOUSTON — It’s Groundhog Day, again.

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.”

Houston Open: Photos | Best merchandise

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.”