Tag: Tony Finau

One of two cases against Tony Finau dismissed, the other set for October trial

District court rules that the statute of limitations for a breach-of-contract claim had run out.

Tony Finau was facing two separate lawsuits but the Utah Court of Appeals ruled last Thursday to affirm the dismissal of one of them.

Finau, the defending champion at this week’s PGA Tour stop, the Mexico Open at Vidanta, was sued, along with his brother Gipper and father Kelepi, by David Hunter in 2021 for breach of contract. Hunter says he was owed money after investing in the Finau Corporation, which was created in 2007 but dissolved in 2009.

Finau, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour who has made more than $38 million in on-course winnings, won his first event in 2015. The TV station Fox 13 News reported that a judge in Provo, Utah’s 4th District Court ruled on the grounds that the statute of limitations for a breach-of-contract claim had run out by the time the suit was filed.

Meanwhile, another lawsuit filed by Molonai Hola will proceed, with a jury trial set for October 2024, the Deseret News reported in January. Hola’s suit alleges non-repayment of loans and other work and services provided to Finau and his family from 2006 to 2009, a similar time period, claiming “financial assistance alone totaled approximately six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000),” according to the original complaint. It specifically says that Hola made mortgage payments on a home in Salt Lake City, paid for medical insurance and medical bills, paid golf-related travel expenses for the brothers, including tournament fees and for caddies and equipment, and for golf apparel.”

An earlier claim from Hola was thrown out where he alleged breach of contract, stating that he was to receive 20 percent Finau’s earnings as a professional golfer. The original claim filed in 2020 asked for $16 million. Hola’s representative, Joshua S. Ostler, declined to specify a dollar amount they will seek at trial in October.

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Defending champ Tony Finau highlights field for PGA Tour’s 2024 Mexico Open at Vidanta

Here’s the field for the first international PGA Tour event of the year.

The West Coast Swing is complete after this week, and the PGA Tour is going international for the first time.

In the first new schedule quirk in 2024, instead of going to Florida, the Tour heads to its lone stop in Mexico before the Florida swing. The 2024 Mexico Open at Vidanta is the eighth event of the year. The winner will receive $1.458 million and 500 FedEx Cup points, but it’s a field lacking star power outside of a couple notable names thanks to its positioning in the schedule, meaning this could be a week someone gets a pivotal win to kickstart their career.

Defending champion Tony Finau, who held off Jon Rahm last year to hoist the trophy, is the favorite and highest-ranked player in the field, sitting at No. 24 in the Official World Golf Ranking. The only other players in the top 50 teeing it up at Vidanta Vallarta are Nicolai Hojgaard (No. 33), Emiliano Grillo (No. 35) and Ryan Fox (No. 36). Will Zalatoris, now ranked 32nd in the world, withdrew shortly after a tying for second at the Genesis Invitational.

Here’s a look at the initial field for the 2024 Mexico Open at Vidanta.

Golf equipment spotted at the 2024 Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club

Close-up photos of the golf equipment stars like Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth are using.

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – This week the PGA Tour moved from the frat house atmosphere of TPC Scottsdale to one of the most posh venues on the schedule, Riviera Country Club. Instead of crowds booing bad shots in an arena-like setting, the Genesis Invitational is all about movie stars, a classic course and an ultra-elite field highlighted by Tiger Woods.

Golfweek’s David Dusek was in the practice areas and around the PGA Tour equipment vans this week with his camera and took plenty of close-up photos of the gear being used by the players who are looking to win the $4 million first-place check.

Genesis Invitational: Picks to win, odds | Tiger debuts ‘Sun Day Red’

What a deal: Tony Finau’s wife ‘selling’ his clubs for 99 cents (and this made Tony LOL)

“For like 99 cents, can you believe it?” Finau said.

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Tony Finau’s golf clubs and Foresight launch monitor may be hitting the market for the grand sum of 99 cents.

How can that be?

Well, it turns out Finau forgot to ask his wife, Alayna, to be his Valentine – and she’s none too happy about it, according to her social media post on TikTok on Monday.

“Apparently I need to ask,” Finau said on Tuesday on the range at Riviera Country Club ahead of this week’s Genesis Invitational.

In the post, Alayna showed a picture of the happy couple from their wedding day and wrote, “It’s Feb. 12 and he hasn’t asked me to be his Valentines yet … ” That was juxtaposed next to a picture of his golf bag and “Golf Clubs for sale, 99 cents. Hits far, thick grips, custom leather, head covers, Foresight launch monitor included.”

“For like 99 cents, can you believe it?” Finau said.

Tony and Alayna’s love story was featured in Season One of Netflix’s “Full Swing,” and she remains a tremendous follow on social media.

“I’m not on TikTok but yesterday one of the equipment reps said to me, ‘Your wife is so funny. I can’t believe she’s selling (your clubs) for 99 cents.’ I just went along with it and smiled but in my head I was thinking, ‘I don’t really know what he’s talking about,’” Tony recalled. “Then I went on Instagram and saw a post about it and I had a good laugh. It’s too funny.”

Tony said he would cook up something special to celebrate Valentine’s Day with his wife, who would be coming to town for the tournament this week.

Whatever you do to celebrate the occasion on Wednesday, make sure it doesn’t lead to your golf clubs being sold for less than a dollar.

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10 of the best players at the Genesis Invitational over the last 5 seasons

These players love Riviera.

The PGA Tour’s third signature event of the year has arrived, and a loaded field is in Los Angeles for the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.

Tiger Woods, who hasn’t played an official Tour event since the Masters, last teed it up at the PNC Championship in December. Before that, he placed 18th at the Hero World Challenge.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa and Justin Thomas are among the players who will join Woods.

Reigning champion Jon Rahm is unable to defend his title due to his move to LIV Golf.

Genesis: Picks to win, odds

Here are 10 of the best players at the Genesis Invitational over the past five seasons.

Tony Finau shoots down LIV Golf rumors, says he’s ‘looking forward to playing my 10th season on the PGA Tour’

A day after Jon Rahm bolted for LIV Golf, Tony Finau’s name started popping up in the rumor mill.

A day after Jon Rahm bolted for LIV Golf, Tony Finau’s name started popping up in the rumor mill.

When asked at the Grant Thornton Invitational last Friday about whether he was considering a jump from the PGA Tour, Finau said: “I have nothing to say right now. I haven’t heard anything.”

He was asked again minutes later if he had any response to his name floating around.

“No, not yet,” he said. “I haven’t let anything marinate other than just playing right now.”

What did marinate were those rumors, which included Tyrrell Hatton and Finau on a LIV Golf team with Rahm.

Monday evening, Finau posted a message on social media addressing his stance and he confirmed he will be back on the PGA Tour in 2024.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C0uzjGMvEkt/?igshid=NTM1NmNjNWFlNw==

A two-time winner last season, Finau wrote that he’s looking forward to “defending in both Mexico and Houston!”

Finau and teammate Nelly Korda tied for fourth at the 16-team Grant Thornton.

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Photos: Tony Finau, Nelly Korda wear matching chrome Air Jordan 1s at Grant Thornton Invitational

These are sweet.

Tony Finau and Nelly Korda played great together Friday during the opening round of the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, posting a 16-under 56 in the scramble format, good enough for the 18-hole outright lead.

On Saturday, Team FiNelly coordinated their outfit a bit for the foursomes (alternate shot) second round. Finau and Korda, both Nike athletes, wore matching chrome Nike Air Jordan 1 Low G NRGs.

Through seven holes of the second round, Finau and Korda were still in the lead at 17 under, one shot better than Sahith Theegala and Rose Zhang.

Check out some photos of the team’s awesome kicks.

Tony Finau calls partner Nelly Korda ‘clutch’ as they lead early at Grant Thornton Invitational

“When Nelly is following me around the course, it makes the game feel pretty simple.”

NAPLES, Fla. – Tony Finau and Nelly Korda parred only three holes in an opening 16-under 56 to lead the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational. The 16-team field played a scramble format on opening day in front of crowds so generous that it caught a number of players off-guard.

It was a mutual-admiration fest at Tiburon, with players raving about what they saw up close from their partners for the first time.

“That squeezer 9 you hit on No. 17,” Korda said to Finau during their post-round press conference, “was absolutely incredible.”

Finau called his partner “clutch”, noting that Korda chose to play second all day to be the team’s closer. They came together as a team because both are Grant Thornton ambassadors.

Nelly Korda of the United States plays his shot from the first tee during the first round of the Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club on December 08, 2023 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

“When Nelly is following me around the course, it makes the game feel pretty simple,” he said. “She was able to make the putts and clutch up when we really needed to make putts.”

The marquee pairing of Korda and Finau hold a one-shot lead over Leona Maguire/Lucas Glover and Megan Khang/Denny McCarthy, who shot 27 on the back nine. Maguire and Glover birdied the first 10 holes.

The format changes to alternate shot for Saturday’s second round.

This marks the first time the PGA Tour and LPGA have hosted a mixed event since the 1999 JCPenney Classic at Innisbrook and for many in the field, this was their first time competing alongside an LPGA professional.

Finau, however, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour, partnered with Lexi Thompson at the QBE Shootout several years ago and told Korda about a time he was in between clubs on the ninth hole into the wind at Tiburon.

“Lexi pulls a 9-iron and gets it to the hole,” said Finau. “I was between 8 and 9. I was like, she hit a 9, I can’t hit an 8. So, they obviously hit the ball very solid, very flush. I would say they hit it a lot straighter than the men, than we do on our tour. They’re just so solid. I don’t know how else to describe it.”

Ready for the Vu-Tang Clan and Team FiNelly? The Grant Thornton Invitational finally brings some of the best of the PGA Tour and LPGA together

Lilia Vu said she’s so pumped to play in the co-ed event that she’s actually nervous.

Lilia Vu didn’t meet Joel Dahmen until Tuesday night, but they’ve been part of a text string with their caddies called the Vu-Tang Clang for about a month.

Vu, the No. 1-ranked female golfer in the world, knows the name is a play off the group the Wu-Tang Clan but when Dahmen declared they would listen to some of the musical group’s greatest hits on the way to the first tee, she wondered, “Is that hip hop?”

“Yeah, it’s the best era in history,” Dahmen said.

Vu and Dahmen, the No. 166-ranked male player in the world, may not have a lot of history playing golf together yet, but that is about to change this week at the Grant Thornton Invitational.

They are partners in the first mixed-team co-sanctioned event between the PGA Tour and LPGA since John Daly and Laura Davies won the final JC Penny Classic in 1999. There’s been talk about reviving a co-ed team event seemingly since the previous one went away and it has attracted some top talent in its debut at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida.

“It means a lot. We’ve been kind of wanting this type of tournament for a long time,” Vu said. “It’s a really big deal for us to actually be on a stage to showcase both women’s and men’s golf together at the highest level, so it’s an honor to be here and showcase that.”

As a matter of fact, Vu said she’s so pumped to play in the co-ed event that she’s actually nervous.

“What is there to be nervous about?” Dahmen said. “It’s the offseason, you’re the best player in the world, we’re just goofing off and we’re going to beat most players here.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m going to need that a lot,” Vu said.

But in the next breath, Dahmen got Vu’s nerves jangling when he reminded her, “my paycheck depends on you this week.”

No pressure, right?

“Oh, no,” Vu said. “I just started sweating.”

“Our team’s going to have more fun than everyone else, that’s the number one thing,” Dahmen said. “I mean, she’s won four times this year. I haven’t won four times since I was like 12. To watch her kind of handle everything that comes out of this week is going to be awesome.”

Dahmen noted that Vu’s putting prowess was going to be fun to watch.

“Yeah, I’ve got you,” Vu said.

“Love that,” Dahmen said.

Vu-Tang Clan isn’t the only team with a funky name. Nelly Korda and Tony Finau are Team FiNelly.

“And Certified Fresh, and that comes from Finau Fresh, and she’s Certified Finau Fresh,” Finau, a six-time Tour winner said.

“Yeah, I got certified yesterday,” said Korda, an eight-time LPGA winner. “I was pretty happy.”

Korda and Finau are both ambassadors for the tournament title sponsor and thus made a natural fit. But they had yet to play golf until pairing up for a nine-hole practice round Tuesday.

“Everything that I thought about her game, it was even better up close,” Finau said.

Korda’s response: “You’re already making me blush.”

The mutual admiration session continued.

“She’s good at everything. Sometimes my game can be a little rough around the edges, so she’ll clean up for that,” Finau said. “Nelly is not a hard partner to play with, and then she’s got an incredible attitude, and she’s obviously extremely competitive, as well.”

“I’m just getting compliments left and right,” Korda said. “I love this.”

And what part of Finau’s game is she most impressed with? “I can’t wait to see all the bombs out there,” she said. “Hit it close for me.”

Team FiNelly and the Vu-Tang Clan may just be getting to know each other before the 54-hole tournament begins in earnest on Friday, but they already sound as if they are BFF’s.

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Tiger struggles to commit, Tony Finau adds speed and Jordan Spieth’s ‘electric factory round’ among 5 things from Hero World Challenge

Catch up on the action here.

NASSAU, Bahamas – Tiger Woods threw a clump of grass in the air on the eighth tee. He did so not once, not twice, but three times as he tried the to judge the breeze and calculate the club to hit and the distance to carry at the par 3. His concentration broke for a moment, something uncommon for him but it became a recurring problem as the round continued.

“I just didn’t quite commit to what I was doing and feeling,” he said.

Woods’ game showed some rust on Thursday. On the bright side, he made four birdies, but he carded five bogeys and a double bogey for a 3-over 75 at Albany Club in the opening round of the Hero World Challenge. Still, it was a victory of sorts just to be back in his element, playing competitive golf for the first time in 235 days since undergoing surgery to fuse his right subtalar joint after the Masters in April.

“You take it for granted, I guess, when you’re playing all the time,” he said. “OK, the wind, it’s coming up, move the ball back, you just kind of lean on it just a little bit, just flight it down a little bit, add a couple yards in. Instead of reacting to it, I was thinking about doing it. Then as I was thinking about it, should I do this or not, by then I’m pulling the trigger. I shouldn’t really pull the trigger. Hit a bad shot. I kept doing it time and time again. It was a lack of commitment to what I was doing and feeling. I’ve got to do a better job of it… Now I know mentally what I need to do better. I think that’s something that physically I knew I was going to be OK. Mentally, I was really rusty and made a lot of errors in the mind that normally I don’t make.”

Woods showed he still has plenty of power, ripping six drives of more than 300 yards. Woods noted he has less mobility after his injuries and as a result, his hips are going forward before the club is reaching the top and limiting how far the club goes back. It’s allowing him to create more power with a more efficient coil and a smoother transition. In all, he hit six of 13 fairways, 10 greens and took 30 putts, the best of which was a 48-foot bomb for birdie at No. 11.

He hit one wild drive at No. 15 to the left and paid the price, trying to whack his second shot from a bush and barely advancing it. That led to a double bogey and he compacted the error with bogeys at No. 16 and 17. There was plenty of curiosity about how Woods would play among the competitors in the 20-man field.

“Looks like he could suit it up for the Dawgs on Saturday,” said Brian Harman of his beloved Georgia Bulldogs football team that is set to play in the SEC Championship game and a reference to Woods’ buff physique. “He is one heck of an athlete. I hope he feels good, I hope he’s moving good, I hope he’s pain free and can play a little bit more.”

After the round, Woods said on multiple occasions that he felt sore. “Everywhere,” he said, and when pushed to name where he felt it most, he added, “Leg, my back, my neck.”

Three more guaranteed days of Tiger is, as Fred Couples put it, Christmas comes early. On Friday, he’s paired with Rickie Fowler at 11:02 a.m. ET. Here are four more things to know from the first round of the Hero World Challenge.

Hero: Friday tee times