Tony Finau

Finau was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has four brothers and two sisters. Of Tongan and American Samoan descent, Finau is the first person of such ancestry to play on the PGA Tour. Finau learned the game by smacking golf balls with his brother Gipper into a net in the family's garage, hitting off carpet remnants with used clubs their father Kelepi bought from the local Salvation Army, a 6-iron for 75 cents, a putter for $1 and a little red bag for 50 cents.
Tony was a two-time Utah State High School Championship medalist and a 2006 state championship team member. He was also a first-team All-State selection four times and won the Junior World Golf Championship at Torrey Pines in 2002.
Finau also played center in basketball and helped his team reach the state tournament in his junior and senior seasons, averaging 11 rebounds per game as a senior. He chose to concentrate on golf instead. His sister, Kaylene, played on the College of Southern Idaho's 2006 National Junior College Athletic Association championship volleyball team.
His brother, Gipper, is the youngest player to make a Korn Ferry Tour cut, doing so at age 16 years, 20 days in Utah in 2006 (T-58th). His cousin, Jabari Parker, has played in the NBA, most recently for the Boston Celtics.
Finau won the Utah State Amateur Championship in 2006, defeating future PGA Tour player Daniel Summerhays in the 36-hole championship match. He was named the 2007 Athlete of the Year at West High School, the same high school as 1926 U.S. Amateur champion and five-time PGA Tour winner George Von Elm. Finau turned professional out of high school at age 17 in 2007, turning down college scholarship offers to play basketball because he wanted to play in a TV event called the "Ultimate Game," which was open to professionals who couldn't be on the Korn Ferry Tour or PGA Tour at the time. He and his brother got sponsors to back them, and they played in the event as a field of 40 battled for the $2-million first-place purse. Finau showed up with a bag of clubs that some said was more outrageous than Al Czervik's bag in "Caddyshack" because it contained a driver, 12 irons, and a putter. Finau didn't win, but Lee Trevino, who was doing TV commentary for the event, took a liking to him and talked Callaway into signing him. Finau, though, wasn't finished with golf reality TV shows. In 2008, he finished second on Golf Channel's "Big Break Disney."
He also began playing on mini-tours, including the Gateway Tour, NGA Hooters Tour, and National Pro Tour. At age 17, he played in his first Korn Ferry Tour event, missing the cut at the 2007 Utah EnergySolutions Championship. In the same year, he played and missed the cut at the KLM Open and Scandinavian Masters, both on the European Tour. At age 18, he missed the cut at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, his first PGA Tour event.
2013 Notes: He played on the PGA Tour Canada, making seven cuts in eight starts. His best finish was T-5th at the ATB Financial Classic. At the end of the year, he went to the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament and secured his card with six rounds in the 60s and a T-3rd finish.
2014 Notes: Finau enjoyed a successful year on the Korn Ferry Tour, finishing eighth on the money list and 12th in the Tour finals, which earned him a card on the PGA Tour.
2014 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 23; Rounds Played - 82; In Money - 19; Top-10 Finishes - 5; Scoring Average - 69.43 (rank 9th); Money - $254,315 (rank 8th); Best Finish - 1st, Stonebrae Classic.
2015 Notes: His first year on the PGA Tour started with a T-12th at the Frys.Com Open and a T-7th at Shriners Hospitals. He also had a T-7th at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba to finish the fall portion of the Tour and had top-10s at the AT&T Byron Nelson (T-10th) and The Memorial (T-8th). He played in his first major at the U.S. Open and finished T-14th at Chambers Bay, going into the weekend in contention only to shoot 74-71. Finished the year 43rd in the FedExCup rankings and 40th on the money list.
2016 Notes: Played 28 PGA Tour events, making the cut in 19 with two top-10s. Had a 9th at the CIMB Classic. Playing in the Puerto Rico Open for the first time, he overcame a one-stroke deficit in the final round with a two-under-par 70 to force a sudden-death playoff with Steve Marino. Won with a birdie on the third playoff hole. Finau's win snapped a stretch of disappointing performances leading up to Puerto Rico, defined by five missed cuts in his previous seven starts. Afterward, his best finish was T-11th at The Memorial. He finished 45th in the FedExCup standings and 53rd on the money list.
2017 Notes: He had a strong season, starting with his T-9th at the SBS Tournament of Champions. Three weeks later, he finished T-4th at the Farmers Insurance Open, four strokes behind winner Jon Rahm. Earned a 5th-place result at the Valspar Championship and a T-3rd at the Valero Texas Open, three strokes behind winner Kevin Chappell. Had two more top-10s, finishing T-7th at the Greenbrier Classic and T-5th at the RBC Canadian Open. Made it to all four FedExCup playoff events. Finished T-7th at the BMW Championship and Tour Championship. He ended his season ranked 19th in the FedExCup standings.
2018 Notes: Played 28 PGA Tour events, making 25 cuts with 11 top-10 results. He had three runner-up finishes for the year and placed in the top 10 in three majors and three FedExCup playoff events. He was 6th in the final FedExCup standings and was the highest-ranked player without a victory on the year. His season started at the Safeway Open. Finau began the final round four strokes back and T-7th but posted a three-under-par 69 to finish alone in 2nd, two strokes behind winner Brendan Steele. He finished T-6th at the Farmers Insurance Open, where he opened with a seven-under-par 65 on the North Course to take the first-round lead. Shot an opening-round 66 at the Genesis Open to co-lead, eventually finishing T-2nd with Kevin Na, two strokes behind winner Bubba Watson. Was T-10th at the Masters and 5th at the U.S. Open. Entering the final round at Shinnecock Hills, he was tied for the lead and playing in the final pairing but shot a 72. Was T-9th at the British Open, four strokes behind winner Francesco Molinari. Finished T-10th at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. In the FedExCup Playoffs, he finished 2nd at the Northern Trust, T-4th at the Dell Technologies Championship, T-8th at the BMW Championship, and T-15th at the Tour Championship. He capped off his year by getting named a captain's pick to play in his first Ryder Cup. Went 2-1-0 and defeated Tommy Fleetwood 6 & 4 in the Sunday singles.
2019 Notes: In his first start of the year at the WGC-HSBC Champions, Finau lost a playoff to Xander Schauffele. He was also runner-up at the Hero World Challenge, four strokes behind winner Jon Rahm. Shot a third-round 64 at the Masters, and was two shots behind leader Francesco Molinari. Shot a final-round 72 to finish T-5th, two shots behind winner Tiger Woods. For the week at the Masters, Finau played the par 5s in 13 under par. Shot a final-round 68 at the Charles Schwab Challenge to finish 2nd, four strokes behind winner Kevin Na. He finished 3rd at the British Open, his first top-3 in a major championship. Finished the season 4th at the BMW Championship and 7th at the Tour Championship. He placed 7th in the final FedExCup standings. He played in four matches at the Presidents Cup, posting one loss and three halves, with one of those halves in his singles match with Hideki Matsuyama.
2020 Notes: Played in 20 PGA Tour events, making 16 cuts with seven top-10 finishes. He finished 17th in the FedExCup standings. He was T-9th in his first start at the Shriners Hospitals and T-6th at the Farmers Insurance, five strokes behind winner Marc Leishman. The next week, he lost a playoff to Webb Simpson at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He was the first- and second-round leader at the Memorial but shot 73-78 over the weekend to finish 8th. Finished T-3rd at the 3M Open, three strokes behind winner Michael Thompson. At the PGA Championship, he shot 66 in the final round to finish T-4th, three strokes behind winner Collin Morikawa. In the FedExCup playoffs, missed the cut at the Northern Trust, was 5th at the BMW Championship, and 17th at the Tour Championship.
2021 Notes: Played in 27 PGA Tour events, making 22 cuts with eight top-ten finishes. He was 11th in the FedExCup standings. Finished T-8th at the September U.S. Open. Before the Shriners, which he was planning on playing in, he started feeling flu-like symptoms the Saturday before. He found out on October 6th he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was quarantined alone for 10 days in a Las Vegas condo. He felt terrible in the first five days, with massive headaches and body aches. It took him a couple of weeks to return to normal. He resumed playing at the Zozo Championship @ Sherwood, where he finished T-11th. At the Mayakoba Golf Classic was T-8th. Had a share of the lead going into the final round of the American Express, shot 68 to finish 4th, four shots back of winner Si Woo Kim. Was T-2nd at the Farmers Insurance Open, five shots back of winner Patrick Reed. Also, runner-up at the Genesis Invitational, he lost a playoff with Max Homa. It was Finau's 8th runner-up finish on the PGA Tour. After the playoff, he struggled a bit with his game, missing the cut at the Players, Valero Texas Open, and Wells Fargo, but in between was T-10th at the Masters. Tony also finished T-8th at the PGA Championship but then ran into a rough patch, was T-32nd at the Memorial, missed the cut at the June U.S. Open, and then the Travelers. Shot a final-round 67 at the Open Championship to finish T-15th. He finally broke out of his six-month funk with his second PGA Tour victory. It came in the first leg of the FedExCup playoffs at the Northern Trust, he shot a final-round 65 to force a playoff and beat Cameron Smith with a par on the first playoff hole. Finau's second career PGA Tour title was in his 189th career, starting at the age of 31 years, 11 months, and 9 days. The victory came in his 143rd start since his first win, the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, a span of 1,975 days. The victory jumped from 23rd to first in the FedExCup standings. Ended the season finishing T-15th at the BMW Championship and T-11th at the Tour Championship. He played in his second Ryder Cup and finished with a 1-2-0 record to help Team USA win at Whistling Straits. Finau lost his singles match 3 & 2 to Ian Poulter.
2022 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour events, making 20 cuts with seven top-ten finishes. He was 9th in the FedExCup standings. Was T-7th at the unofficial Hero World Challenge. He struggled early in the season and didn't have a top-25 finish in his first 12 starts until he was T-2nd at the Mexico Open at Vidanta thanks to a final round 63 to finish one back of winner Jon Rahm. Shot 67-67 over the weekend at the Charles Schwab Challenge to finish T-4th, two shots back of the Sam Burns/Scottie Scheffler playoff. Held a share of the lead entering the final round of the RBC Canadian Open. Shot 64, but Rory McIlroy shot 62 to beat Finau by two shots. His runner-up finish was his 50th top-10 of his career. Won the 3M Open by three shots, his third career PGA TOUR title in his 212th career start. Entered the final round trailing Scott Piercy by five strokes and recorded a closing 4-under 67 to win by three shots. The next week, he won the Rocket Mortgage Classic by five shots, shooting 26 under par, his career-low 72 holes to par score. In the FedExCup playoffs started with a T-5th in his defense of his FedEx St. Jude title. Was T-28th at the BMW Championship and 9th at the Tour Championship. In his second Presidents Cup start was 3-1-0, and he beat Taylor Pendrith in the singles 2 & 1.
2023 Notes: He played in 24 PGA Tour events, making 20 cuts and five top-ten finishes. He was 20th in the FedExCup standings. Won the Cadence Bank Houston Open by four shots, his fifth PGA Tour victory and third in a seven-start stretch. The victory came in his 218th start at the age of 33 years, 1 month, 30 days. Held at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds, including a four-shot lead entering the final round. Was T-7th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and T-9th at the Farmers Insurance Open. Shot 65-66 over the weekend to win the Mexico Open by three shots over Jon Rahm. At the majors was T-26th at the Masters, T-72nd at the PGA Championship, T-32nd at the U.S. Open and missed the cut at the British Open. In the FedEx Cup playoffs, he was 64th at the FedEx St. Jude, T-37th at the BMW Championship, and T-20th at the Tour Championship.
2024 Notes: Was T-6th at the Farmers Insurance. Shot a 2nd round 62 and a final round 66 to finish T-2nd at the Texas Children's Houston Open, a shot back of winner Stephan Jaeger.