Tony Finau
| Tony Finau | |
|---|---|
 Finau at 2015 Deutsche Bank | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Milton Pouha Finau |
| Born | September 14, 1989 Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st) |
| Sporting nationality |  United States |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 2007 |
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour Canada Web.com Tour |
| Professional wins | 2 |
| Highest ranking | 9 (December 2, 2018)[1] (as of November 24, 2024) |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 1 |
| Korn Ferry Tour | 1 |
| Best results in major championships | |
| Masters Tournament | T5: 2019 |
| PGA Championship | T10: 2015 |
| U.S. Open | 5th: 2018 |
| The Open Championship | 3rd: 2019 |
Milton Pouha "Tony" Finau (born September 14, 1989) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour.
Amateur career
Finau was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Finau won the Utah State Amateur Championship in 2006, defeating future PGA Tour player Daniel Summerhays in the 36-hole championship match.
Professional career
Although Finau had college scholarship offers in basketball, he turned professional at the age of 17 and began playing on mini-tours including the Gateway Tour, NGA Hooters Tour, and National Pro Tour.[2]
Finau and his brother Gipper competed on the Golf Channel's The Big Break in 2009. Finau finished second on Big Break Disney Golf.[2]
Finau played on the PGA Tour Canada in 2013, making seven cuts in eight starts.[2] He finished T-3 at the 2013 Web.com Tour qualifying school to earn his Web.com Tour card for 2014.[2] He won his first title in August 2014 at the Stonebrae Classic.[3] He finished 8th in the regular season, and 12th in the Web.com Tour Finals to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2014–15 season.
In March 2016, Finau won his maiden title on the PGA Tour at the Puerto Rico Open. He won in a sudden death playoff over Steve Marino with a birdie on the third extra hole. He had earlier missed a putt for the victory outright on the 72nd green. The result moved Finau into the top 25 in the FedEx Cup standings.
Finau opted not to defend his Puerto Rico title in 2017, instead taking his chances to get into the field at the 2017 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, but was two players short of entering the field, which takes the top 64 available players from the Official World Golf Ranking.
2018
Finau qualified for the first three majors in 2018, including his first Masters appearance, by making it to the Tour Championship in 2017. He finished in a tie for 10th place at the 2018 Masters, despite dislocating his ankle in the Par-3 contest[4] the day before the first round. In June 2018, Finau finished in 5th place at the U.S. Open after a double-bogey on the 18th hole, his highest finish to date in a major tournament.
Finau finished the 2018 PGA Tour season ranked sixth in the season-long FedEx Cup. He earned over $5,600,000 in the 2017-18 season with 11 top-10 finishes. His best finishes in the season were second at the Safeway Open and The Northern Trust. He also finished T2 at the Genesis Open.[2]
In September 2018, U.S. team captain Jim Furyk named Finau as a captain's pick for the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National outside of Paris, France. The U.S. lost the Ryder Cup to the European side 17 1/2 to 10 1/2. Notwithstanding the loss, Finau played well. He finished with a 2-1-0 record and won his singles match over Tommy Fleetwood (6 and 4). This was a particularly impressive result because Fleetwood had gone 4-0-0 in the fourball and foursome matches (with partner Francesco Molinari).[5]
2018-19 PGA Tour season
On October 28, 2018, Finau lost a playoff against Xander Schauffele in the WGC-HSBC Champions. He still won more than $1,000,000 by finishing second.[6]
Personal life
Finau is of Tongan and Samoan descent, the first person of such ancestry to play on the PGA Tour.[7] Finau's brother Gipper made the cut in the Utah Energy Solutions Championship at the age of 16 but did not succeed as a tournament professional.[2] He is the cousin of NBA basketball player Jabari Parker [2] and NFL football player Haloti Ngata.
Finau runs the Tony Finau Foundation, an organization aimed at empowering youth and their families in the local community. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and his wife, Alayna Finau, have four children.[8]
Professional wins (2)
PGA Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mar 27, 2016 | Puerto Rico Open | 69-70-67-70=276 | −12 | Playoff |  Steve Marino
|
PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2016 | Puerto Rico Open | Steve Marino
|
Won with birdie on third extra hole |
| 2 | 2018 | WGC-HSBC Champions | Xander Schauffele
|
Lost to birdie on first extra hole |
Web.com Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 3, 2014 | Stonebrae Classic | 67-62-63-66=267 | −22 | 3 strokes | Daniel Berger,  Fabián Gómez, Zack Sucher
|
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T10 | |||
| U.S. Open | T14 | CUT | 5 | |
| The Open Championship | T18 | T27 | T9 | |
| PGA Championship | T10 | CUT | T44 | T42 |
| Tournament | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T5 |
| PGA Championship | T64 |
| U.S. Open | CUT |
| The Open Championship | 3 |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 12 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 8 (2017 Open – 2019 PGA)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (2018 Masters – 2018 Open)
Results in World Golf Championships
| Tournament | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico Championship | T27 | T25 | |
| Match Play | T17 | T40 | |
| FedEx St. Jude Invitational | T10 | T27 | |
| HSBC Champions | T11 | 2 | T53 |
"T" = Tied
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
- Junior Ryder Cup: 2004, 2006
Professional
- Ryder Cup: 2018
- Presidents Cup: 2019 (winners)
See also
References
- ^ "Week 48 2018 Ending 2 Dec 2018" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Tony Finau profile". PGA Tour. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
- ^ "Tony Finau shoots 66 en route to win". ESPN. Associated Press. August 3, 2014.
- ^ "Tony Finau dislocates ankle celebrating hole-in-one at Masters Par-Three event - and pops it back in himself". The Independent. April 8, 2018.
- ^ Wittry, Andy (September 30, 2018). "Ryder Cup Scores: Tony Finau and Henrik Stenson had the best days relative to par Sunday at Le Golf National". Ryder Cup. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
- ^ Kragthorpe, Kurt (October 28, 2018). "Utah's Tony Finau loses a playoff in his bid for a World Golf Championship title". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
- ^ Evans, Farrell (October 7, 2014). "Finau's atypical path to PGA Tour". ESPN.
- ^ Christensen, Danielle (October 5, 2017). "'His time is the best time': Professional golfer Tony Finau on faith, family and PGA Tour". Deseret News. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
External links
- Tony Finau at the PGA Tour official site
- Tony Finau at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
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Lost: 10½ – 17½ | ||