I’m primed to go on a run, says Tony Finau
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Tony Finau of the Us plays his shot from the fourth tee during the third round of The Genesis Invitational, where he finished in a tie for 19t, on Feb 17.
PHOTO: AFP
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MEXICO CITY – American golfer Tony Finau finished the 2023 season with a flourish and has started the 2024 campaign on the right footing as well.
The 34-year-old looks to successfully defend his title at the Mexico Open at Villarta starting on Feb 22 when he tees off at the par-71 Vidanta Vallarta.
He won his sixth career PGA Tour title by defeating world No. 3 Jon Rahm of Spain by three strokes in the 2023 edition, improving on his joint-second placing in 2022.
Finau has not missed the cut in five starts this season. He finished tied for sixth at the Farmers Insurance Open in January and a share of 19th at the Genesis Invitational last week.
The run started at the close of last season.
After not finishing higher than tied-32 in a stretch of six tournaments starting with the PGA Championship in May, Finau closed the 2022-23 season with three top-10 finishes over his last six events and a joint-20 at the Tour Championship.
“Yeah, I feel prepared. I’ve done some good work in the off-season with my body just to be strong,” he said on Feb 20 ahead of the Mexico Open.
“This golf course yields some birdies and I can really swing the driver with some freedom out here as there’re a few holes that are pretty lenient as far as hitting areas.
“So I love that, being able to hit it hard and play this type of golf course. I do feel like I’m primed to go on a run starting this week.”
Finau expects to be a busy man, however. He told reporters that he will be playing competitive golf during the day and with his family on the par-three course at night.
“I think we reserved a tee time there about 8pm every night and we’ll be there with my boys playing pretty much every evening. That’s definitely at the top of our list of things we enjoy here at Vidanta,” he said.
The American, however, is not mixing up his priorities.
“Yeah, there’re definitely different feelings coming back to a golf course that you’ve had success,” he added.
“I would say more obligations than anything else. Once you get on the golf course, you know it’s a course that you’ve had success and you’ve won before, so you definitely have that sense of confidence, walking around a place that you’ve won before. Hopefully, that’s the case this week.
“This golf course is high on my list as far as courses that look good to me and that I like, so I’ll be looking to definitely get after it again this week and try and defend this title.” REUTERS
