In Blaine, Minnesota, Finau beat former BYU golfer Scott Piercy with four birdies on the back nine to earn his third PGA Tour title.
Abbie Parr, Associated Press
During the 3M Open event in Blaine, Minnesota’s six-hour weather delay on Saturday, Utah’s Tony Finau took his five children fishing.
On Sunday, he claimed his third PGA Tour triumph, reeling in the leader by five strokes to win the tournament at TPC Twin Cities Golf Club.
Finau finished the tournament with a four-under-par 67 on Sunday, three shots ahead of Sungjae Im and Emiliano Grillo, and earned $1.35 million for his win. Final-round comeback in 3M Open history was the largest to date.
Ravena Finau, who died in 2011 after her car collided with another vehicle, was Finau’s inspiration for wearing green to remember her memory.
“My family means the world to me.” My mother is one of my most cherished possessions. “I miss her,” he remarked in a televised interview following the win, shedding a few tears. “Having my family here to share in this victory with me is an incredible feeling. To me, they mean the world to me. … It would be ungrateful of me if I didn’t appreciate everyone who has helped me get here. But my parents and my wife have been there for me since the beginning, and this one is for them.”
In the FedEx Cup standings, Finau, 32, is now in contention for a spot on the U.S. squad for the Presidents Cup after winning the tournament. Before the event, he was ranked 11th in the standings, and now he is at No. 7. At Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, in September, six players will be chosen at random by the captain to represent the United States at an international golf competition. The other six players will be chosen automatically.
First PGA Tour win since beating recent Open Champion Cameron Smith in a playoff at The Northern Trust in Jersey City, New Jersey in August. A spring 2016 victory at the Puerto Rico Open marked Finau’s PGA Tour debut.
What was required?
As a matter of fact, all of my resources. “I played OK, but it seemed like I was four or five shots behind the leaders every time I glanced up,” he reflected after the round. During the middle of our back nine, “I really got things rolling, and once I gained charge of the golf tournament, it was a whole new perspective.”
Finau had just finished the Open Championship with a final-round 6-under-par 66 to finish in a tie for 28th position.
He was the world’s 17th-best golfer according to the OGR. Only 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama (No. 14) had a better ranking in Minnesota than the rest of the field.
Finau was predicted to win Sunday’s final round by CBS golf expert Nick Faldo, who said he would overcome third-round leader Scott Piercy. That’s what he said.
BYU graduate Piercy faltered on the back nine on Sunday and tied for fourth place with a -13 score.
Finau struggled to get going in the competition, starting with a bogey, but he improved his putting stroke and finished well. A back-nine birdie streak of 15, 9, 32, and 8 feet helped him to take command of the tournament.
He just skirted a water hazard on the 17th hole before making par and taking a four-shot lead into the 18th hole before sending his tee shot into a water hazard and making a bogey.
After some “squirrelly swings” came in, he contacted bank on “17” and everything worked out, jokingly.
Piercy had a five-shot lead going into the turn, but bogeys on Nos. 11 and 13 and a triple-bogey on No. 14 cost him the lead. At No. 14, Finau birdied for a birdie to get 16-under, while Piercy had a terrible day on the same course.
A resident of Scottsdale, Arizona, who also owns a property in Lehi, Utah, where he spends the summers, Finau has now finished second or better 13 times on the PGA Tour.
Finau’s swing coach, former Utahn Boyd Summerhays, coached him to a third-place finish at the 3M Open in 2020. Last year, he finished 28th.
Finau brought his entire family to Minnesota to stay in a house he rented on the course. He finished the opening eight holes of the day with a score of 3-under-par. Third-round 65 put him in contention for the title.
As he explained to PGATour.com on Saturday, “I’m just sitting right here off (course) No. 10, so (we) did some fishing, took a nap, and ate.”
Finau made headlines earlier in the day when he rolled in a 34-foot par putt with the toe of his putter from the periphery of a green.