Tony Finau
Twitter: tonyfinaugolf
Instagram: @tonyfinaugolf
Things to Know
- First Tongan and Samoan member of the PGA TOUR
- Tony won his first PGA TOUR title at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open
- Despite scholarship offers to play college basketball, decided to pursue golf. Announced his decision to turn professional at the age of 17, on his high school graduation day.
- First golf memory was watching Tiger Woods at the 1997 Masters “To see him do what he did, I could relate to him. Obviously, how exciting he was, but someone with a bit of color playing this game. That’s when I was like, maybe I can play golf. If he can do it, so can I.” He played with Tiger in the final group on Sunday at the 2019 Masters.
- To help pay for and keep his son involved with the game of golf, Tony’s father, Kelepi (Gary), who migrated to the U.S. from Tonga at the age of 12, often worked double shifts as an airport baggage handler to make extra money.
- To pay for travel expenses for junior golf tournaments, Tony would raise money by performing fire-knife dances, a Polynesian tradition. Scars and burns on his forearms remain visible today. “Fire knife dancing. It’s just a stick with knives at the end. We wrap towels around the knives that you can light on fire, and you spin it around and (see) whoever can do the best tricks. It’s a warrior dance back in the islands of Samoa. My mom taught me how to do it.”
- Has qualified foer the past three TOUR Championships, finishing sixth and seventh in the past two FedExCups.
- Had 26 top-10 finishes in the previous three seasons.
- Has five top-10s in the past eight majors, including two top-5s this season (T5, Masters; 3rd, Open Championship)
Presidents Cup Notes
First Appearance
- Selected as a captain’s pick; finished ninth in the U.S. Team standings
- Began his 2019-20 PGA TOUR Season at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open where his T9 finish was highlighted by a third-round 62 at TPC Summerlin.
- His 62 at TPC Summerlin was the lowest score ever recorded by a player who lost strokes on the greens (ShotLink era)
Past Match Play/Team Performances
WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play
- Overall record: 3-3-0 (2018, 2019)
Ryder Cup
- Overall record: 2-1-0 (2018)
December 06, 2019
