Tony Finau has been a fan favorite in the world of golf for nearly a decade, even longer if you
recall his runner-up finish in Big Break Disney Golf back in 2009, before he spent several years
grinding it out on mini-tours.
He burst onto the scene in 2016 by winning the Puerto Rico Open, made the Tour Championship
in 2017, and solidified his status as one of the best players in the world by 2018. The big Utahn
had 10 top 10s in majors by 2021, including three in 2018 alone.
The winning finally came shortly after, with Finau taking home five trophies from 2021 to 2023.
But a career that seemed destined for greatness has begun to stall. After finishing in the top 10 in
half of his first 20 major appearances, he has managed only one in his last 18 attempts. Finau had
finished the year in the top 20 of the world rankings every year from 2018 to 2023, before ending
2024 at 26th. Now, he’s poised to finish 2025 barely inside the top 100, and his status for
upcoming major championships is uncertain. This year, Finau recorded just one top 10 in 21
events, a T5 at Riviera in February.
So, what has gone wrong for one of golf’s most lovable and entertaining players? Let’s take a
closer look.
Finau’s putter isn’t the issue
It’s pretty easy to tune into the PGA Tour and assume that Finau’s struggles stem from his
putting. He often appears to struggle with short putts, especially in critical moments. This year,
Finau tried the infamous pencil grip to fix that, and he even resorted to hitting a birdie putt one-
handed during the Memorial Tournament.
But the putter isn’t to blame for Finau’s drop in quality. Short putts have always been a challenge
for him. He has ranked outside the top 140 on the PGA Tour in putting from inside 5 feet for five
consecutive seasons, managing to break into the top 90 only once in his career. Finau managed to
be a top player despite those issues.
If we look at Strokes Gained: Putting, it remains the same. Finau was ranked 124th on Tour this
year, 156 th last year, and 125th in 2023. His best putting rank was 53rd in 2018 and 69th in 2020.
It’s evident that, even at his absolute best, Finau was only a slightly above-average putter.
A sharp decline in iron play
One clear reason for Finau’s struggles this year is his iron play. Since 2017, he hadn’t finished
worse than 39th in Strokes Gained: Approach until he plummeted to a shocking 135th this year.
Just last season, he was second only to Scottie Scheffler in this category and ranked 5th in 2023
and 12th in 2022. That’s a dramatic drop in quality, but I’m not ready to sound the alarms yet.
It’s not unusual for a player to experience a dip in iron play during times of adjustment in their
game. Finau has been a high-quality iron player for nearly 10 years now, and I’m not ready to
give up on a return to form.
While he definitely needs to fix the issues with the irons, I believe a different area of his game is the root cause of his current decline.
Finau’s driver is no longer a positive
The main thing people likely remember about Finau when he first started finding success on
Tour was his driver. His uber-athleticism allowed him to hit it a long way, ranking 3rd in distance
in 2016, 10th in 2017, 4th in 2018, 9th in 2019, and 13th in 2020.
But then the distance began to fall off. Finau hasn’t been in the top 30 in distance since 2020, and he finished a career-low 73 rd last
year.
To make matters worse, accuracy isn’t improving either. Finau has never been accurate off the
tee, which isn’t too concerning for someone with so much distance. But it does become a worry
when you aren’t hitting it far. He ranked 141st in accuracy this year, which contributed to a rank
of 128th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee.
Finau has now seen a decline in his SG: OTT ranking for eight consecutive years.
It’s important to note that Finau is now 36 years old, which is around average for a Tour player,
and coming off left knee surgery in 2024. He has relied heavily on athleticism throughout his
career. His swing is short and explosive, generating a ton of torque and clubhead speed for such a
quick motion. With the data supporting it, it’s safe to say that Finau has lost some juice in recent
years.
Can he bounce back?
Finau will face plenty of pressure in 2026 as he tries to avoid falling out of the world’s top 100
and losing status in major championships. I believe another year removed from surgery could
help, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the iron play rebounds closer to his career form. But with his
obvious shortcomings on the greens, Finau will need to make a compromise off the tee at some
point.
It’s evident he’s moved past his days of elite driving distance. If Finau wants to remain
competitive as he approaches his 40s, he will need to find much more accuracy off the tee to set
up his iron play. If the distance continues to decline without an improvement in accuracy, Finau’s
iron play will face too much pressure to keep him competitive with the world’s best.
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