Tony Finau, The Northern Trust, PGA
(Photo by Robert Samuels - JSN)

Finau Overtakes PGA's Top Dog to Win Northern Trust

The 2021 Northern Trust at Liberty National golf course concluded on Monday, after the final round was postponed due to Hurricane Henri. 

The Northern Trust Open that concluded during the third week of August is the first FedEx Cup playoff event on the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour. World number-one ranked golfer, Jon Rahm, who won the US Open this year and Cameron Smith were the two leaders after three rounds had been played, but the champion was an unsung hero who showed great grit in the final round.

Heading into this final round, Rahm was the top-ranked golfer on the PGA Tour and tied with Cameron Smith, the 23-year-old Australian pro golfer who made headlines when he broke a Liberty National Golf Course record for lowest score when he shot a 60 on Saturday in the third round. While world number one Jon Rahm and Smith shared the tournament lead, 23rd-ranked Tony Finau was right behind them.

The Northern Trust's leaders were each up three strokes on Finau after the third round, but Finau hung in there. The 31-year-old had to push himself to outplay some of the PGA Tour's best golfers because of the heartbreaking defeats he's suffered on the PGA Tour in the past. After the Liberty National crew went through painstaking effort to prepare the course after a devastating flood for the final round to be played, the television broadcast of the final round began at 2:00 pm.

A delay of the final round of a major golf PGA event was a first for veteran pros like PGA number-one Jon Rahm who are used to playing on back-to-back days. Case in point is Cameron Smith, who shot a 60 score that broke a course record on Saturday. Smith would have preferred it if Hurricane Henri had not dropped in, but it did and adapting to this obstacle was what experienced PGA golfers like Smith and Finau would have to overcome on the final day of the Northern Trust Open.

Inside Finau's PGA Career

Coming into Monday's final round, Tony Finau had not finished in the top 20 at his last three PGA tournaments but it is not like it had been ages since the Utah-native had been in contention to win the PGA Tour's best events.

In July, Finau finished 15th at the British Open. In May, he came in eighth at the PGA Championship but, his last win is a different story. Tony Finau's last victory came all the way back in 2016 at the Puerto Rico open. When he was 24-years-old, the 6'4" PGA golfer won his first tournament, the Stonebrae Classic in San Francisco, California. So, it had been five years since Finau had won a legitimate title on the PGA Tour and this time, he was just three strokes behind the two leaders!

Finau did it by playing better than anyone else in the final round. At 6'4", 200-pounds, he can certainly drive the ball 305.9 yards average driving distance and that is what he did at Liberty National. It may be harder for a big man like Finau to putt consistently, but he was better than the top-ranked man on the tour, Jon Rahm and the golfer with the best putting average on tour, Cameron Smith.

How Finau Overtook Rahm

What stands out most about his performance, was how put his game face on for the final nine holes. He did this by eagling the 13th hole, with this Iron shot that dropped very close to the hole. Finau's Eagle putt on 13 moved him up two places and into a tie with Jon Rahm at -18. Rahm then birdied his 13th hole to stay one shot ahead, but Finau had gained meaningful momentum in his quest for his first title of the year.

On the 16th hole, Tony completed his comeback by threading a beautiful chip shot onto the putting green. He tapped home the last shot and took over the lead at -20. Rahm’s tee shot on 16 put him in the bunker and he recovered to par, but now was a shot behind Finau. Rahm bogeyed the 18th hole, which meant that Cameron Smith's birdie put him at -20 under and forced a playoff with Tony Finau for the title.

Overcoming Demons for Victory

The stars were aligning, over the views of Manhattan's skyline and the Hudson River for PGA Tour journeyman, Tony Finau to end a 5-year drought of a tour victory. Yet his rival, Smith was also hungry to cement his place as one of the PGA Tour's best by snaring the Northern Trust but even he had won the Zurich Open in May of 2021. At the first playoff hole, Finau teed off first, drilling a shot down the fairway, but his competitor shot it into an unplayable area and lost a stroke. Finau's next shot wasn't much better, placing him in the bunker, giving the big American all, he needed to become a real PGA champion.

Finau sunk the title-winning putt, with Smith looking on and the two hugged before Finau went over to the CBS interview. The reporter asked Finau what it took to win his first PGA Tour title in five years:

"It took just about everything I had. [At the tenth hole] we knew I had to get to 20-- that was my goal. My caddy Mark said, 'hey, let’s turn in the best 'nine' we’ve had all week' and I was able to do it.

 

During the press conference, Finau explained how he overcame his demons and was able to overtake two of the PGA Tour's best golfers in Jon Rahm and Smith to win this title.

These guys are so good as it is, if you can't believe you can beat them, it's an uphill battle and I just continue to believe. I believe in myself. I believe in my team. I haven't had the wins to have that type of confidence and belief, but you just have to. I have to believe I can go out there and beat Jon Rahm...that's the only reason why I'm sitting here today as the champion. I continue to believe in myself no matter where the chips fall and I try to do my best." - Tony Finau

Tony Finau now tops the PGA Tour's FedEx Cups Playoff Standings after his victory at the Northern Trust Open. The runner-up, Cameron Smith moved up from 16th to third and the #1 PGA ranked golfer, Jon Rahm is in second.

This was the first tournament that is part of the FedEx Cup Playoffs and could be the start of a new era in Tony Finau's career and regardless of where he finishes the year, Finau now has a major tour win under his belt which may improve his PGA tour ranking.

Anthony Paradiso
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