Tony Finau Finds Form With His Putter, Rolls Into Weekend in Mexico

Finau is surging at the event that helped him get back on track in the 2022 season.

Tony Finau is back at the Mexico Open this week, an event that he thoroughly enjoys. And with strong opening rounds of 65 and 64 for a 13-under total, Finau is again displaying his fondness for both the tournament and Vidanta Vallarta.

“My family loves it,” Finau said of the event on Thursday. “We came last year and my wife pretty much is like yeah, I think we'll be attending this one for a lot of years moving forward.”

Finau’s positive energy heading into the week has clearly served him well. He carded just one bogey in each of his opening rounds and a total of 15 birdies. On Vidanta Vallarta’s back nine, which he played as his front nine during Round 2, Finau fired off five birdies, including three in a row on holes 16-18 for a 31. 

What a round from @TonyFinauGolf 😤

He currently leads by 2️⃣ @MexicoOpenGolf. pic.twitter.com/eTcmXslyCv

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 28, 2023

The 33-year-old said his putter led the way during that hot start on Friday. It's a club he admits he hasn’t lately been able to rely on. 

So far for the 2022-2023 season Finau is ranked 44th in Strokes Gained putting. But the five-time PGA Tour winner works with renowned swing coach Boyd Summerhays, and apparently the two found a groove in their practice before the start of the Mexico event. 

“I did some great putting work with my coach last week I think, and I always feel like I'm a good putter, just sometimes you've got to ride the waves with your putter throughout a season,” Finau said. “I haven't putted it great statistically over the last couple months, but things change fast.” 

Finau, who finished T2 at this event in 2022 behind Jon Rahm, says that the Mexico Open sparked a turnaround in his game last year. After that impressive finish, Finau entered a stretch of late spring and summer golf that included six top-10s, including two victories. Finau won the 3M Open and the Rocket Mortgage Classic, back-to-back. 

“This was a place where a lot of things changed for me last season. I was able to post a second-place finish and just have a nice final round, make some putts that were very important and then it carried me into a very nice finish to last season. Hopefully, I continue the good putting into this weekend and into the rest of this season,” Finau said. 

Finau hopes that the 2023 tournament can set him on a similar path heading into the remainder of the season. He currently holds a solo lead of the Mexico event, one shot ahead of South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen.