Tony Finau:The Next Great American Golfer?

American golf is in a disarray. European Golf with star Rory McIlroy has largely eclipsed that of America's, along with the lack of leadership on this year's Ryder Cup team, have largely shown that American golf is not on par with what it once was. Tiger and Phil are getting older and their skills are diminishing, so it's time for a new younger generation to take their place. Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler are both very very good players who will lead America for years to come. However, America will need more than that if they want to become elite again. Enter Tony Finau.




Tony Finau is the 1st Golfer of Tongan-American Samoan descent. On one side of his family he is related to Milwaukee Bucks Forward and #2 overall draft pick in 2014 Jabari Parker, and on the other side of his family he is related to Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman Haloti Ngata. In 2009 he competed in the Golf Channel show Big Break Disney with his brother Gipper and they ended up finishing 2nd. He then turned pro and started playing on mini tours such as the Gateway Tour, National Pro Tour, and PGA Tour Canada. In 2013 he finished 3rd in Q School to make the Web.Com tour and he finished 12th in the Web.Com Tour for that same season to earn his PGA tour card for 2014 capped off by his 1st career win at the Stonebrae Classic. During the Fall PGA tour season Finau was lights out he became known as a big hitter on tour routinely hitting 320+drives with ease. In his time on the PGA tour he only missed one cut in the 6 tournaments he played in the late year season with the rest of the cuts made being Top 25's including 2 Top 10's. It remains to be seen whether he can retain this success when the regular season rolls around, but I would not bet against him.