Thinking about … Tony Finau

Tony Finau has all the tools to be a regular winner on the PGA Tour, but somehow hasn’t won since 2016.

Last week, Tony Finau appeared on the YouTube show “My Biggest Win, with (musician) Kelley James.” The irony, of course, was Finau didn’t have much of a choice. He has struggled to win on the PGA Tour despite being chosen for the last U.S. Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams. He’s become a top-10 machine, rising to No. 16 in the Official World Golf Ranking (and to a career-best No. 9). Finau’s biggest win to date, the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, happens to be his only triumph, and it often gets downplayed as an opposite field event.

But to Finau, Puerto Rico brings back many fond memories. Interestingly, he entered that tournament in the midst of a cold streak and as a second-year Tour pro still wondering if his game stacked up with the best in the world. He had missed four cuts in a row before snapping the streak with a T-43 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational the previous week.

“I was in a rough place trying to figure it out,” he told James.

But he shot 67 at Bay Hill in the final round and carried momentum to Puerto Rico. Finau had used a weak grip when he played on the Korn Ferry Tour and was in the process of  strengthening his grip that season. At Bay Hill, Finau put the right hand a little more underneath and used a simple swing thought when he noticed the wind starting to blow: Hit the inside of the golf ball. It worked and he posted 12 under that week, good enough to tie veteran Steve Marino, who lipped out from 6 feet for birdie on the fourth playoff hole.

“I never thought he was going to miss. He gave me a gift,” Finau said. “My putt to win was a left center putt. I would have had to choke to miss it.”

Afterward, Finau received congratulatory messages from the likes of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, but it was the words of former NFL head coach June Jones, a family friend since Finau was a teenager, that meant the most to him.

“He said, ‘I always knew this day would come. This is just the beginning,’ ” Finau recalled. “He was able to turn my mind from all the hype and excitement (of winning for the first time) to let’s go win some more.”

Finau says that tasting victory in Puerto Rico only made him hungry for more success, but he hasn’t been able to get back to the winner’s circle. In late January, he had a putt to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open on the 18th green but missed and lost to Webb Simpson in a playoff. It wasn’t so much that Finau squandered the lead, but rather that he failed to deliver the knockout punch when he had the chance.

Finau appears to be on the verge of a breakthrough and he’s set some lofty goals to help him get there. He quotes the Napoleon Hill saying that “a goal is a dream with a deadline.”

His top goal is improve into the top 60 in Strokes Gained: Putting. He’s got a long way to go to get there – he ranks No. 150. He’s circled another putting stat, too. He’d like to lead the Tour in the longest stretch without a 3 putt this season. His best – 150 putts – is far behind Scott Piercy who is at 382 putts in a row and counting, and with a current streak of only eight, Finau has a long way to go to catch him.

Finau is one of the longest hitters on Tour, but he ranks 38th this season and set a goal for top 3 in distance off the tee. His final goal: to be top 30 in proximity from 125 yards and in. He’s No. 22 in proximity from 50-125 yards but No. 171 from 100-125 yards.

If Finau can improve his putting and his proximity to the hole, the skies the limit. In an earlier Q&A with Golfweek, Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee named Finau as the player most on the cusp of breaking out this season.

“He’s an extraordinary golfer,” Chamblee said. “Any minute, any minute he could go off.”

As for Finau, the next time he gets into contention on Sunday he should be able to tap into the good vibes from his victory at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open.

“It gave me the confidence to know that not only can I win on the PGA Tour but I can be a force if I keep doing what I’m doing and keep the attitude that I have,” he said.

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