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Tony Finau: Not Part of the PGA Tour Elite

By Richie Randolph

BLAINE, MINNESOTA - JULY 26: Tony Finau of the United States plays his shot from the second tee during the final round of the 3M Open on July 26, 2020 at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
BLAINE, MINNESOTA - JULY 26: Tony Finau of the United States plays his shot from the second tee during the final round of the 3M Open on July 26, 2020 at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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Tony Finau hits the long ball and pairs it with great ball striking and deft touch. His one win, though, shows he is not one of golf’s elite players

Tony Finau has played well since the PGA Tour returned to action. He has 3 top 10’s in 6 starts, including top 10’s each of the last two events. As I wrote last year regarding Rory McIlroy, a string of top finishes is impressive and should not be dismissed. At the 3M Open this weekend, ‘Big Tone’ seemed primed to capture the win. However, a lackluster weekend saw him wilt behind Michael Thompson. Finau’s lack of weekend success is becoming a disturbing trend that signals he is not one of the elite players on the PGA Tour.

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By most statistical measures, Tony should be in the winner’s circle this year. He ranks 12th in Strokes Gained: Total, is in the top 25 in driving distance, birdies per round and scoring average. He is the 16th ranked player in the world and one of the featured players in the upcoming PGA Tour 2K21 video game. Despite these accolades, the Salt Lake City native has only one career PGA Tour win, which came at an alternate field event at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open.

Despite all of his talent, Finau struggles mightily on the weekends to close out tournaments.

Since the PGA Tour’s restart, he has combusted during the final round multiple times, fading in the RBC Heritage, Rocket Mortgage Classic and The Memorial with final rounds in the 70s. The weekend at Murfield Village was particularly damning; Finau was in the driver’s seat until a brutal back nine on Saturday (which featured two double bogies) put him 4 shots back of Jon Rahm, and he vomited his way around Jack’s place to a final round 78, giving himself no chance to catch the Spainard.

These final round troubles are seen in the stats as well. So far in the 2019-2020 PGA Tour season, Finau’s scoring average for rounds 1-3 is 69.03. On Sundays, this spikes to 70.85, a jump of nearly 2 strokes. Last season tells a similar story; his Sunday scoring average was 1.26 shots worse than his first three rounds. The man simply plays worse on Sunday, particularly when he has a chance to capture victory.

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Tony Finau is a supremely talented golfer with prodigious length and deft touch around the green. His recent run of strong play should not be ignored but his inability to win is obvious, and a sign that his game is not on par with his world ranking and status in golf. Plain and simple – Finau needs a win this season to prove he is a legitimate threat.

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