BIG TONY TIGER’S CUP WEAPON
Tony Finau cuts an imposing figure. The big-hitting American has already shown there is plenty of heart and determination contained in his six-foot, three-inch frame, which makes him a key man for the US bid to retain the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne
For the United States, last year’s Ryder Cup was certainly one to forget. Going in as hot favourites, the Americans left France with a heavy defeat and rumours of internal squabbles.
However, through all the embarrassment, it would be easy to forget the shining light that was Tony Finau, who in his first appearance in the Ryder Cup, won two points out of three, one of
which came in a landslide victory against Europe’s second-best performer, Tommy Fleetwood.
Finau will arrive at Royal Melbourne in December as one of his country’s leading forces looking to retain the Presidents Cup. He will no doubt be aiming to repeat his fine individual performance in Paris, which surprised many in his homeland and will have had International team
I WANT TO BE A HALL OF FAME GOLFER. THAT’S SOMETHING I’VE ALWAYS DREAMED OF AND NOW I KIND OF KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO GET THERE. – TONY FINAU
Captain, Ernie Els, surely taking serious note. “The Ryder Cup was great,” says Finau, in an exclusive interview with Golf Australia magazine. “It was the coolest golf experience in my life, especially playing with Tiger was amazing. It was dierent. “We didn’t get the job done but there’s just something about being in a team and representing your country. It’s very special to me.” It’s easy to see why Finau likes being in a team. In his younger days, before focusing on golf, the 29-year-old played basketball to such a high level that he was oered a scholarship by several colleges. It was during those years on the basketball court where he discovered the value of camaraderie and in playing for your teammates, instead of just for yourself. But golf was his calling. He turned professional at 17 and competed on US mini-tours, before gaining some recognition when he finished second on the Golf Channel’s Big Break series in 2009, aged 20. Five years later, he played his way onto the PGA Tour by finishing 12th in the Web.com Tour finals.
His performance at the Ryder Cup last year was part of a breakout season, which included 10 top-10 finishes. His purple patch carried on into this year where, at Augusta in April, he showed why some believe he is on the verge of achieving something great, finishing tied fifth, after being in the running on the back nine for his first Green Jacket.
A disastrous tee shot on 12 that ended up in the water for a double-bogey five killed his chances, but his display continued a trend that has seen him produce his best game in majors.
For instance, in just two Masters appearances now, he has finished inside the top 10 both times. He recently completed the same double at The Open Championship, finishing third at Royal Portrush on the back of a tied ninth at Carnoustie in 2018. Throw in a tied fifth at the US Open last year and his major record suggests he is not a man who is scared of the big time.
“Augusta was a brilliant experience,” he says. “I played well enough to win. Hole 12 got me but that’s something I’ve got to learn from. It was a huge turning point for Tiger and I. We had been chasing Frankie (Molinari) the whole Sunday then he opened the door and I wasn’t able to execute the shot I needed to whereas Tiger did. I should have hit a draw rather than a fade.
“But it was some atmosphere and cool to be part of that final group. Tiger was in competitive mode. He didn’t talk a lot. But I was genuinely happy for him when we finished. When he hit the fairway on 18, I knew the tournament was over.
“I think the way they set up the golf courses in major championships just suits me. I like tough courses. My game is made for them and playing at the highest level certainly heightens all my senses. I just really enjoy the pressure and atmosphere.
“The more times I put myself in a position to win, the more comfortable I will get in closing it out. I want to be a Hall of Fame golfer. That’s something I’ve always dreamed of and now I kind of know what it takes to get there. I’m chasing all the accolades to get there.”
For somebody born into a family of Tongan and Samoan immigrants, who settled in the US, Finau’s addition to the Hall of Fame would be some story to say the least. Unlike many of his golfing peers, Finau’s parents didn’t have the disposable income to buy the best equipment and pay for the best coaching.
His father, Kelepi, worked at an airport and his mother, Ravena, worked as a nurse. On a modest salary, Kelepi would buy cheap clubs from pawnbrokers and, with pictures of Jack Nicklaus mounted on the walls of his garage, would home teach Finau how to swing using a mattress and a strip of carpet, often through the harsh Utah winters.
Growing up in the melting pot neighbourhood of Rose Park in Salt Lake City, Finau escaped deprivation and gangs to become a worldfamous PGA Tour star. Last year, he earned a mouthwatering AU$9.2 million. The days of sleeping in cars at junior tournaments now seem a long time ago.
“I grew up in what you would call ‘the ghetto’ here in Rose Park,” he says. “It was pretty gang infested. I had a lot of friends who were in gangs and who were often drinking and taking drugs. There was a lot of peer pressure growing up, for sure. But golf was a great avenue to escape that for me. I was so focused on golf that it kept me away from the streets and gangs.
“Coming from those humble beginnings definitely helped me become the player I am today. I’m only realising that now. When I was a kid, I never knew that I was the only one playing golf indoors, for instance. And when I became a teenager and started travelling the US, it was then when I really started to realise what my parents had sacrificed.”
Coming from a workingclass community, Finau is hugely appreciative of being a professional golfer. Often, he says how grateful he is to play a game he loves for a living and how much he owes his parents for having that privilege.
That’s why when his mother was killed in a car crash back in 2011, as she made her way back from a wedding, Finau was heartbroken. Luckily, he has a big family of his own, his wife, Alayna, and their four children, to console himself with. However, his mother could never be forgotten, with her still being a huge source of inspiration to become the best golfer he can be. “My mum was a huge part of me growing up,” he says. “There’s definitely that extra motivation now because I know she wanted me to make it when I was young. The way I look at it was great to have a mum like her. I still feel her with me every step of the way.
“You know, I’m a family man and was very much raised that way. I have nine siblings and I’ve always been surrounded by family. I spend a lot of time with my kids when I’m at home and I’m aware I will never get back the time I miss with them when I’m playing golf. “But I think it gives me a great balance because if I was only consumed in golf 24/7, it wouldn’t be good for my game. Growing up, my dad always told me to be a golfer on the course but a father, brother and son at home. I’d be more than happy with a successful life than just a successful career.”
You can see in his love of family that Finau is a warmhearted individual. But you wonder if that will hinder him in developing the ruthless streak needed to triumph because, for all his impressive results, winning is something he’s still learning about, with just one PGA Tour victory in his career so far, the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, oering little return, even if he does still have time on his side.
“There’s a couple of tournaments that I do think I let slip,” he says. “The WGC in China last year comes to mind … I had a oneshot lead going into the final round.
I GREW UP IN WHAT YOU WOULD CALL ‘THE GHETTO’ HERE IN ROSE PARK. IT WAS PRETTY GANG INFESTED. I HAD A LOT OF FRIENDS WHO WERE IN GANGS AND WHO WERE OFTEN DRINKING AND TAKING DRUGS.
Overall, though, I wouldn’t say that I regret not winning more. That’s golf. All I can say is that the next time I’m in that position, the outcome will be di erent.”
For sure, Finau’s driving is admirable but that will only get you so far. It’s in and around the greens where you feel he needs to improve, something he has been trying to do by experimenting on di erent grips with a clutch putter, for example. Still, the bedrock of Finau’s success in golf is his mammoth hitting o the tee. It’s little surprise then that modern technology and rolling the golf ball back is a topic Finau feels particularly passionate about.
“I don’t agree with rolling the golf ball back,” he says. “Because of the simple reason that I think it’s cool to hit the golf ball really far and our game needs as much coolness and attention as it can get. If the ball doesn’t fly as far as it does now, I don’t see how that could grow the game.
“I mean, in America, when I was growing up, me and my brother would be the only ones on the golf courses. But now there does seem to be more kids playing and it’s starting to grow again. But we still have a way to go because the reality is that kids see people like Stephen Curry and Lebron James as cooler than golfers. That’s a problem we have.”
For Finau, it was Tiger Woods winning at The Masters in 1997 which inspired him to pursue golf. Since making it himself, he’s now been trying to appeal to youngsters, just like Woods did to him. One way he is doing this is through his fashion on Tour, often donning a selection of clothing and trendy trainers you’d expect to see on the streets of inner cities rather than the golf course.
“Yeah, I do love a strong shoe game,” he says, while laughing. “There’s definitely a place for it – meeting urban style with golf. That’s why I love being a Nike athlete. We can break boundaries of the stereotypical golfer.
“You’ve probably seen I’ve even worn joggers a few times and di erent flatter hats. If that attracts a few more guys from playing basketball to playing golf, then that’s great.
“If Tiger didn’t make the game cooler to me, I wouldn’t be playing probably. He was super flashy and athletic, and he was also the same skin colour as me, so I could relate to him.”
Clearly, his family moved to the US in the search of a better life and that ‘go and get it’ attitude has been embedded into him. Through his dicult upbringing and losing his mother at 22, Finau has become battle hardened and resilient, which resonates in his golfing past, too, like when he went to Q School for five years before breaking through in 2013 and at The Masters last year, when he dislocated his ankle in the par-3 tournament but went on to finish 10th, when many others would have pulled out.
In the last 18 months, he’s been threatening to accomplish something special. His performance in the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National, a dicult course, was impressive and his close call at Augusta this year was confirmation of his lofty ambitions. But, sadly, it’s now there where his regret lies, having spurned the chance of immortality. He will hope another chance is not too far way.
“I regret that shot on 12 at Augusta,” Finau says to finish. “If I could get that back, I probably would be deemed Masters champion now.”
IF TIGER DIDN’T MAKE THE GAME COOLER TO ME, I WOULDN’T BE PLAYING PROBABLY. HE WAS SUPER FLASHY AND ATHLETIC, AND HE WAS ALSO THE SAME SKIN COLOUR AS ME ...