2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open: Top 10 Power Rankings at Memorial Park

Tony Finau is coming off a missed cut at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. I’m not too concerned for a couple reasons.

One, El Camaleon is a narrow course with trouble lurking for wayward shots. That’s not a good recipe for a bomber like Finau.

Second, it was his first start of the 2022-23 PGA Tour season. He was competing against a strong field by fall standards with most guys having a few tournaments under their belts.

The Cadence Bank Houston Open should be a better fit for his game. While he MC’d at Memorial Park last year, it was only by one after recording 69-73. Finau took T-24th (69-69-68-71) in 2020.

"“I think my thoughts on the golf course, it’s a tricky golf course, no question,” Finau was transcribed by Tee Scripts in 2020. “It’s got length, you’ve got to hit it in the fairway here to score…”"

Finau has always had a great demeanor about him, even when he was dealing with a five-year win drought. That snapped in 2021, and the floodgates have opened. He won back-to-back events at the 3M Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic to go with two more runner-up finishes.

The 33-year-old ranked fifth on the PGA Tour in strokes gained per round (1.408) last season. He was 15th off the tee (.543) and 12th on approach (.659). Speaking of approach, Finau was fourth in proximity from 175-200 yards (29’6”).

We’re still waiting for him to be more consistent in the majors. Those are still five months away, so I like for Finau to bounce back this week in a fairly low-stakes event.