Tony Finau is doing just fine

Tony Finau knows what you're thinking. He knows because he has had the same thought, or the same question: When is the size of his trophy cabinet going to match up to the size of his talent? As he prepares for this week's The American Express, where he shot a career-low 62 and finished T14 last year, all he can tell you is what anyone in his position would tell you: He's working on it. "I've got to get a little bit better to win, that's just the reality of it," Finau says, a nod to his 34 top-10 finishes but no victories since his first PGA TOUR win at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. "I get a lot of credit for being on international teams, and I think I got a great future ahead of me, but at the end of the day, I've got to get a little bit better to win again. It's a challenge I have to relish." Finau's friends know what you're thinking. They know because Finau comes across as one of the nicest guys on TOUR, and it's a short leap from there to too nice, which is adjacent to Finau just doesn't want it bad enough. "What I love about Tony is just how kind he is to everybody," says Danny Ainge, Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations and a friend of Finau's since the latter was 14, when they met at Utah's Thanksgiving Point Golf Club. "He's so approachable and easy to be around whether you're an 18 handicapper or just in the group to keep score. He's one of the nicest guys I've met. "But what I think a lot of people don't understand is how deep-down competitive he is," Ainge continues. "He works so hard at his game. He's driven. He's motivated. He wants it." At 31, Finau's career earnings have recently surpassed $20 million, but good luck finding signs of complacency. He split with longtime caddie Greg Bodine last summer, and, inspired by Bryson DeChambeau, began experimenting with ball speed, reaching 206 mph. He has tinkered with putting and putters, studied the statistics. After finishing T38 at the Masters in November, he and his coach, Boyd Summerhays, took a hard look at why he'd felt unprepared. "You can't sugar-coat it," says Summerhays, Director of Instruction at McDowell Mountain Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. "The second one hasn't come as quick as he or we thought, that's just the truth, and it does build a bit, not winning for a few years. But he's doing the right things. He's determined. People would be surprised how much it means to him, how bad he wants it." Pull back a bit, and we should all have such problems as Tony Finau. The first-ever TOUR pro of Samoan and Tongan descent, he has gone from the fringes (Golf Channel's largely forgotten "Big Break Disney" in 2009) to a top-20 player in the world. He made his fourth straight TOUR Championship last season, and has a big, beautiful and growing family (four kids). He's also well-liked. Brooks Koepka, with whom Finau partnered to go 1-1 at the otherwise disastrous 2018 Ryder Cup in France, couldn't say enough nice things about him, and they had discussed getting the band back together again for the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne until Koepka pulled out with an injury. (Finau boosted the U.S. Team with three crucial ties and went 0-1-3.) Fans love him. He's a cut-up on Instagram. All of which made last season's Waste Management Phoenix Open so gut-wrenching. Finau, who had just moved his family to Scottsdale (they go back and forth between there and Utah), birdied 12 and 13, playing partner Webb Simpson bogeyed 15, and it felt like Finau's time. And then it all changed. He missed two birdie putts inside 10 feet. At the par-4 17th hole, where TOUR players can reach the green with a 3-wood, he fanned his tee shot into the brutal, no-go fairway bunker, and did well to make par. Meanwhile, Simpson birdied 17 and 18 to force a playoff, which he won with a birdie. He called the result "hard" and slightly bittersweet. "I hope he doesn't feel bad about today because he played great," he said of his Presidents Cup teammate. Jraice, Finau's oldest boy, sobbed just off the 18th green. "This one is going to hurt," Summerhays said. Ever the gentleman, Finau congratulated the winner and gathered his crew to go home and watch a quiet Super Bowl. He was T3 in the 3M Open in July, three shots behind winner Michael Thompson, after shooting 68 on a low-scoring day at TPC Twin Cities. And Finau finished fourth in the PGA Championship. He has seven top-10s in the last 11 majors. Most recently, he shot a front-nine 31 to charge into contention in the final round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic presented by UNIFIN. He shot 1 over on the final nine, including bogeys at 16 and 17, to finish five back of winner Viktor Hovland. To be sure, he is just one or two puzzle pieces from being a complete player. He was 129th in final-round scoring average (70.75) last season, and 102nd in 2019. There are positive signs. Last season, Finau improved from 125th to 69th in Strokes Gained: Putting. "He's rolling it really nicely," says Summerhays. "He's a great lag putter; last year he went 333 holes without a three-putt. He's got great hands, great touch. He's worked hard at it." Finau admits Phoenix hurt - he will play in the Saudi International and miss the Waste Management this year - and "a tough pill to swallow." His 2018 playoff loss to Xander Schauffele - who birdied his last three holes - at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in China also hurt. They all hurt. But he will be back, Finau adds quickly. He'll win that second one and then a third for Jraice and the rest of the family. For his friend Ainge, who jokingly laments having lost out of Finau's fan rights to new Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, a mutual friend, despite some very nice lunches at Chipotle. For Summerhays, who says win No. 2 could very well open up the floodgates. Most of all, for himself. I just feel like he's on the verge. He's still a very young man. Says Summerhays: "You're talking about a guy who took seven years to get to the Korn Ferry Tour; that's a guy who has a lot of determination and will and competitiveness. And you've seen what he did at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. The guy is a winner." Adds Steve Stricker, an assistant captain on Finau's Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams: "He's got so much talent. He's starting to putt the ball a lot better, I think. I think that was an issue for him for a while. When you have that much length like he does, and a good iron player and a good head on his shoulders - it's going to happen for him." Having honed his game in part by bashing balls into an old mattress in the garage, the cheapest club membership on earth, Finau knows not to take the journey for granted. At the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, he stayed with Jazz owner Smith at his house on the 18th hole, hanging with Ainge, NBA star Andre Iguodala and actor Michael Peña. And at the recent Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, Maui, he and new caddie Mark Urbanek made an Instagram post in which they jokingly teach the average golfer how to hit a drive 400 yards. It's a good life. "At times I think I've accomplished more than I ever thought I would," Finau says, "but in others I think I could do better. It's a lot of noise in the media, how many wins I should have or shouldn't have. I've been a top 20 player in the world for almost four years now, so I'm quite proud of the consistency. "My great golf's got to get a little bit better," he continues, "to where when I get hot, I jump out in front and nobody can catch me. I think most guys peak in their 30s, and kudos to the younger guys for reaching those heights so fast, but for me, I'm playing the long game. Hopefully I'll be out here another 15 or 20 years. I feel like I'm just getting started."

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