I am a bit of a freak, no one plays golf back in Polynesia, says Finau
The American rookie tells James Corrigan how he struggled to become a Ryder Cup pioneer
The uniqueness of Tony Finau here this week is not simply because he is the first player of Polynesian descent to appear in a Ryder Cup. He must also be the first member of Team USA ever to express an interest in rugby union.
Indeed, the 29-year-old believes he would not be teeing it up for the visitors this week, but for his oval-ball ancestry.
Finau is best known for his dislocated ankle at the Masters. The 6ft 4in, 14-stoner had just recorded a hole-in-one in the Par Three competition on the Wednesday when he ran down the fairway in celebration, with at least two of his four children in close pursuit.
What followed became a viral hit on social media, as his foot buckled under his leg before he looked down and nonchalantly clicked it back into place, as if he was putting a sausage back into a hot dog. Somewhere in his DNA, the Tongan and Samoan rugby influence sparked into life. “No big deal,” Finau said.
“People from the Polynesian islands tend to be big, raw-boned people who are known for having a high pain threshold, so rugby is right up our alley,” Finau said.
“Rugby is the biggest sport throughout the islands. My dad grew up playing it, just like his dad, and my younger brothers play it. I love watching it, but I never really played myself – just a bit of touch rugby. But I guess it was nice to show I can handle a bit of pain, which is not something you would expect to see on a golf course.
“As for golf back in Polynesia, no one plays it, so I’m a bit of a freak in that respect. There’s only seven holes in the island my dad is from, and where my mum came from there was just one course on the entire island.
“Yeah, I’ve learnt I’m pretty tough. I needed to have that threshold during the Masters. The next morning, I looked down and I was honestly worried I’d be done for the season and that my Ryder Cup dream would be dead for another two years. But I was able to play through that pain and still prove to myself what I had physically.
“From that time until now, it’s pretty much been a miracle.
Not only was I able to finish top 10 at Augusta, but I didn’t really take any time off.
“I’ve got a family to feed
– four kids – and earning upwards of $5million has been a real blessing.
“I also felt like I had a lot to prove to myself, more so than anything else that I can play well when it counts, and that gives me a lot of confidence for my first Ryder Cup this week.”
In truth, Finau’s backstory is defined by winning against all odds. His father, Kelepi, was a baggage handler at Salt Lake City airport and had to support a family of nine on his meagre wage. Tony and his brother Gipper became obsessed with watching golfers on – ironically – the local par-three course. There was no money, but plenty of creativity on Kelepi’s behalf. He tied to a mattress to the beams in the garage and told his boys to hone their ball-striking. “That thumping sound of the balls hitting that mattress is stamped in my mind,” he said. “My dad laid strips of carpet on a cement floor, so that taught us not to get too steep and hit down on the ball too much.
“To help us learn trajectory, my dad spray-painted little dots from high to low on the mattress. And then there was that thumping sound – the louder it was, the better you were hitting it. “Sometimes, when I’m not playing particularly well and need a little motivation, I’ll hear that thumping sound again. It reminds me of where I came from and the price my parents and I have paid to get to where I am.”