Tony Finau: The Closer

[OITW]

Me too. I still think he wins this year. He has too much game not too, but something has to give there.

What tournament(s) do you think he has great shot of winning? This one was tailored for him, IMO - atmosphere, strong enough field, but not the strongest.

I can't imagine him taking down Koepka/Rors/Woods/Reed if it were him and them final two down the stretch on a Sunday.

Webbers made the ace (albeit luck), and made the 3 on 18 in the playoff - pars don't cut it.

 

[neophyteguy]

That was Webb’s playoff record. Think Finau was 1-1 before yesterday.

Thanks, I did have those backwards!

 

[JB]

Yeah Im with you here. A perfect example of this is

What tournament(s) do you think he has great shot of winning? This one was tailored for him, IMO - atmosphere, strong enough field, but not the strongest.

I can't imagine him taking down Koepka/Rors/Woods/Reed if it were him and them final two down the stretch on a Sunday.

Webbers made the ace (albeit luck), and made the 3 on 18 in the playoff - pars don't cut it.

He is capable of winning just about any tournament, but I agree this was as good a shot as any. In year's past he hasn't tailored his schedule to his strengths necessarily, but any place that is bomb and gouge, Finau could go crazy low.

 

[Templet0n]

Yeah Im with you here. A perfect example of this is


He is capable of winning just about any tournament, but I agree this was as good a shot as any. In year's past he hasn't tailored his schedule to his strengths necessarily, but any place that is bomb and gouge, Finau could go crazy low.

I think courses with flat'ish greens as well. his putting style does not look comfortable.

 

[JMB3]

Has Finau talked about the tee shot on 17? Poor strike? Knocked down by the wind?

 

[WICHITAREJECT]

If I recall correctly his main challenger went birdie-birdie-birdie....maybe just say "great job" and move on.....whose bag would you rather carry for the next 10 years??!!

 

[JB]

If I recall correctly his main challenger went birdie-birdie-birdie....maybe just say "great job" and move on.....whose bag would you rather carry for the next 10 years??!!

Because it wasn't just about yesterday? As mentioned in the first post and throughout, his Sunday scoring average is near the bottom of the PGA Tour. It's been a pretty good conversation about a guy that is nearly universally liked so far I think.

 

[OITW]

Yeah Im with you here. A perfect example of this is


He is capable of winning just about any tournament, but I agree this was as good a shot as any. In year's past he hasn't tailored his schedule to his strengths necessarily, but any place that is bomb and gouge, Finau could go crazy low.

I agree, just wonder if he could nip one of the other guys who is mentally tougher.

 

[WICHITAREJECT]

yep I get that @JB ,but if his putt on 18 was 2 more inches left , he wins!! its a mighty fine line for sure...

 

[NoShanks]

I think his mental part of the game on sundays need a lot of work. I noticed how much his playing style changes on sundays. He is generally consistent to be within reach of winning.

i think in Due time he will win a bunch. I’m thinking 10-15 wins by the time he’s done.

 

[JB]

yep I get that @JB ,but if his putt on 18 was 2 more inches left , he wins!! its a mighty fine line for sure...

Agreed. And if he didn't par the par 5 15th he does after an average bunker shot. Or hit a poor drive on 17. The problem is all of these things happened. And they appear to happen to him on Sunday.

I dont think there are too many golfers on Tour that could have a largest impact to the game overall than Finau.

 

[TRA024]

Both Finau and Fowler are in the upper echelon compared to the average Joe or even the average PGA tour player when it comes to mental capacity and athletic capability but for sure they can't be considered "killers" when it comes down to close a tournament. I don't think Finau choked it away yesterday but didn't either put the hammer down which he could've easily done.

As mentioned in this thread before both Finau and Rickie are considered "nice guys", I wonder what sports psychologists say about how to turn the close calls to W's. I don't believe you can be thought to become a killer if that is not in your blood and trying too hard would even further derail the game. Should they even more embrace their nice guy vibes coming down the stretch (or Sunday's in general), would that put them in a better mental place to go for it and not be so tentative. I would describe Finau's last 4 holes as very tentative yesterday.

 

[OITW]

Agreed. And if he didn't par the par 5 15th he does after an average bunker shot. Or hit a poor drive on 17. The problem is all of these things happened. And they appear to happen to him on Sunday.

I dont think there are too many golfers on Tour that could have a largest impact to the game overall than Finau.

Why and what reasons?

 

[SquirrelyDave]

He just seems to lack the killer instinct to just go out and seal the deal. Maybe just gets a little too tentative trying too hard not to lose it.

I hated seeing him not close this one out, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting it. Not sure what it is when he's standing over those putts on Sunday, but it just seems to be the nerves getting the best of him. Maybe second-guessing himself or trying to play it safe...I don't know. I just know he's WAY too good to only have one PGA W on the board.

Both Finau and Fowler are in the upper echelon compared to the average Joe or even the average PGA tour player when it comes to mental capacity and athletic capability but for sure they can't be considered "killers" when it comes down to close a tournament. I don't think Finau choked it away yesterday but didn't either put the hammer down which he could've easily done.

As mentioned in this thread before both Finau and Rickie are considered "nice guys", I wonder what sports psychologists say about how to turn the close calls to W's. I don't believe you can be thought to become a killer if that is not in your blood and trying too hard would even further derail the game. Should they even more embrace their nice guy vibes coming down the stretch (or Sunday's in general), would that put them in a better mental place to go for it and not be so tentative. I would describe Finau's last 4 holes as very tentative yesterday.

I think there’s a lot of truth in these. Tony seems like a really nice guy, and I think he may not have the killer instinct needed to put the hammer down when the time comes.

Honestly he may have a stellar career with winning a ton of tournaments, and he might really be ok with that.

 

[JB]

Why and what reasons?

Oh tons.
1. He hits the ball a freaking mile.
2. He is genuinely one of the nicest people out on tour.
3. Related to 2, but always gives time to fans and foundations
4. Has a work ethic that would be followed.
5. Touchy subject, but impossible to ignore ethnicity.
6. NBA Relative

 

[Drumdog]

Who's going to be first to say...."he has to learn how to win." ?

 

[Templet0n]

Agreed. And if he didn't par the par 5 15th he does after an average bunker shot. Or hit a poor drive on 17. The problem is all of these things happened. And they appear to happen to him on Sunday.

I dont think there are too many golfers on Tour that could have a largest impact to the game overall than Finau.

I would love to see a stat of average scores while in contention. The Sunday score over all is a bit meaningless. Not completely but a bit. For example, Rory has a bad rap for Sunday scores while in contention and not being a closer. Similar to this discussion going on about Tony. But, when not in contention he seems to shoot very low rounds and back door a lot of top tens, or top fives.

Score average while in contention would be a very interesting stat.. For example in 2000 and 2001. Tiger had the second best (Yes, second best both years) Sunday scoring average at just over 68 strokes. So he was shooting 2-4 under every Sunday. When you start that round off with a lead and then shoot under par.

Well, we all know the results.

 

[ULEWZ]

He unfortunately is like the mail man, doesn't deliver on Sunday.
5. above made me look this up. The first golfer on tour with Tongan and Samoan descent.

 

[Reframmellator]

As someone else noted, I don't question the mental toughness of someone who corrects a dislocated ankle on the course at Augusta during the Par 3 and then proceeds to finish T10 in the Masters itself. (I just looked it up - he shot a 66 on Sunday, tied for second best among the Top 10.)

In my view, the Sunday scoring average says something about his game, but again, as noted by someone else, I would like to see his Sunday average scores while in contention. A 66 is one thing when you start the day 13 back of the eventual winner. It's quite another when you start Sunday three back and shoot a 66.

I did not watch any of the coverage, but we did listen to a lot of it on XM while returning home. We didn't listen past the 14th, but my impression of the part of the back nine that we heard was that Tony was making some clutch shots to grind them out with far from his best game.

It is a very fine line in talent at the highest levels of an endeavor, and one's mental mindset often is the difference. He might need to do it once to break his own paradigm, or he might need a sports shrink to help him.

He is clearly not satisfied with his game. One of the XM commentators noted that Finau has a goal to make the top 60 in strokes gained putting this year. Today he is 62nd, and I believe he was somewhere around 100th in 2018.

I don't think you can have that kind of work ethic for that long without the inner fire to win.

I hope he does it.

 

[BluesManDan]

Moving 100th to 62nd in around a year?! That’s impressive! Others have worked on specific areas of their games and had a lot of wins as a result. DJ started posting wins after tightening up his wedge game. Tom Kite did the same back in the day. But making such massive progress in putting is really impressive to me.


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[Flipit]

I think he goes into the conservative mode. Plays to not lose instead of playing to win. Closers have that killer instinct and know when to attack and when to be patient. Tony is to patient.

 

[Nate]

Hit a pretty bad 4i into 15. Anything decent leads to a birdie.

Should have hit driver on 17.

Should have put it inside 8 feet on 18.

But if ifs & nuts were candy & nuts we’d all have a Merry Christmas. Golf is hard.

 

[aljaklaw]

I think he goes into the conservative mode. Plays to not lose instead of playing to win. Closers have that killer instinct and know when to attack and when to be patient. Tony is to patient.

it's interesting though, Webb Simpson shot just one stroke better and nobody is saying that he played to not lose

 

[Flipit]

it's interesting though, Webb Simpson shot just one stroke better and nobody is saying that he played to not lose

Perhaps the three straight birdies to force the playoff and then the win. I don’t know if that was Tony’s intent or not. Just how wit looked. He has chances, so maybe the pressure just gets to him. I like Finau and would like to see him put it together.

 

[Golf Ghost]

it's interesting though, Webb Simpson shot just one stroke better and nobody is saying that he played to not lose

He made three straight birdies to win when he had to????