Tony

Finau

Finau enters the week off a missed cut at The Open. It was his second straight missed cut and the putter is the culprit. The big hitter won the Mexico Open in April with 4.87 strokes gained putting for the week but he’s failed to find a top-20 finish seven starts since the victory. He’s lost more than two strokes putting in six of the seven starts. Finau is looking to stay patient with the putter, his grip in particular which he’s been known to tinker with in the past, “That’s the one thing that I know I’ve tried to stay patient with myself with is my putter and that specific goal. So it was same goal I made this year and I’m sticking to it and hopefully it pays dividends towards the end of this year.”

The big hitter has piled up four wins since last July and showcased consistency along the way, finishing outside of the top 31 just one time in that stretch. “My game is better than it’s ever been, and confidence I think is as high as it’s ever been leading up into major season.” He’s playing well but does he like the layout this week at Oak Hill? “It’s a golf course that fits my style. It’s long. You’ve got to hit it in the fairway. Those are things that I’ve done well over this last year, and hopefully I take that right into this week.” Finau should be in consideration in all weekly fantasy formats this week. Finau has collected top 10s in 10-of-27 majors but is still searching for his first win in the big events.

It’s not easy to sleep on a 54-hole lead and close it out the next day but Finau made it look easy today. He landed 12 GIR but kept himself in position on the misses to let his short game handle the load (+1.2 strokes gained around-the-green, +1.7 strokes gained putting). He’s now signed 65 or better in his last six rounds at Vidanta Villarta. After posting a runner-up finish here last year (losing to Jon Rahm) he flipped those spots on the leaderboard this time around. Finau went more than five years between his maiden win and win number two but he’s now piled his last four wins in a nine-month stretch. You could say he’s “finally” tapping into his full potential and the next big checkpoint would be to win a major championship.

Finau scribbled a runner-up finish at this event last year but he was just T78 after round one that week. He’s off to a much better start this time around, trading seven birdies with a lone bogey. He gained at least one stroke in each of the four sub-categories of strokes gained. “I didn’t make any big mistakes, any terrible swings off the tee to put myself in bad position. It was a solid way to start this golf tournament, no question.” Finau arrived with 11 straight finishes of T31 or better and continues to play well through 18 holes at Vidanta Villarta.

Finau is making his sixth appearance at the event and he’s found top 15s in two of his last at PGA WEST. His experience goes beyond that as he also made it through Q-School here, “I enjoy playing golf here. Have some great memories here over the years. I got through qualifying school here to get on to the Korn Ferry. So I think I would say that’s right at the top for me as far as the memories around this place.” Finau arrives with three wins in his last nine worldwide starts. He’s sporting a full confidence tank and gamers should keep enjoying the ride.

Finau lapped the field last week at the Houston Open but he won’t keep the momentum rolling this week at the RSM. He was set to make his second overall appearance at the event (14th/2014). He cited an injury as the reason for this WD but did not specific what the injury or severity was. He’ll rest up ahead of Thanksgiving and is currently listed in the field to play the Hero World Challenge the week after that.

The Big Samoan did most of the heavy lifting before the weekend, opening the week with rounds of 65-62 to establish a big early lead. He was able to coast home to the finish line with ease. “I’m a scoreboard watcher. In a position to win a tournament, you want to know what you’ve got to do. It was different nerves, I’ve never been in that position before where I was that far in front... I felt like we were playing really slow and for some reason that threw me off a little bit and I think cost me a couple bogeys. I might have rushed on some shots, but lesson to be learned and luckily for me learning and a win is nice.” Finau now has three wins in his last seven starts, quite the script flip compared to the start of his career once in his first 188 events played. He’s now finished top 5 in all seven events where he’s held a 54-hole lead or co-lead, winning two of them (2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic being the other).

Finau famously went more than five years in between his first and second victories on Tour, but he has since been making up for lost time. That includes back-to-back wins this summer in Minnesota and Detroit, and now Finau heads into the final round at Memorial Park GC with a four-shot cushion over Ben Taylor, the only one player within seven shots of him. His second-round 62 distanced him from the field, but a Saturday 68 maintained his four-shot lead. Finau was bogey-free in the third round and has dropped just three shots through 54 holes. Finau is just 1-for-6 with 54-hole leads on Tour, but he did convert his most recent opportunity at the Rocket Mortgage Classic this summer.

Finau started the day with a share of the lead after an opening 65, and he went even lower Friday while carding 10 birdies against two bogeys. The 8-under 62 currently serves as the low round of the week, tied his career best on Tour and moved him four clear of Patrick Rodgers when Finau signed his card. Finau birdied seven of his first 10 holes, including four in a row from Nos. 7-10, then added three more on Nos. 16-18 to close out his round. It’s unlikely that anyone from the afternoon wave will reach his 13-under total, meaning Finau is all but assured of heading into the weekend with the lead as he looks to win his third tournament in seven starts since late July.

Finau was locked in with the driver today, piping 9-of-13 fairways to gain just over one stroke off-the-tee (T11). From there, he pelted 14 greens (T10) and gained 3.3 strokes putting to boot (3rd). Highlights included a birdie bomb from 59 feet at the par-3 second hole and a 35-foot birdie blast to end his day at the 9th. Finau missed the cut last week in his season debut but he appears to have successfully shaken off the rust. There were still a few groups still to finish up when darkness suspended play but if the lead holds then it’ll be his eighth career first-round lead or co-lead on the PGA TOUR. The most recent instance came at the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic which he closed out for a win.