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TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPSeptember 19, 2018Tony FinauAtlanta, Georgia RACHEL NOBLE: We'd like to welcome Tony Finau to the interview room at the TOUR Championship. Tony, No. 3 in the FedExCup standings, 11 top 10 finishes this season. Talk about the year you had and what it's like to return to East Lake. TONY FINAU: Yeah, it's been a great year for me, solid year, a year where I've learned a lot about myself. Just playing events and competing and playing at a high level and just being consistent throughout the year is something that I'm pretty proud of. It's been a great year. And whenever you're back here at East Lake, one of 30 guys, you know you're doing the right things, and you're playing good golf throughout the season and playing good golf when it counts. You know, it's awesome to be back for my second TOUR Championship on a golf course that I really enjoy. I think East Lake is a great test, and you've got -- all parts of your game have to be clicking this week if you're going to take home the hardware, so I look forward to that challenge. To be in this position, third in the FedExCup is a great position to be in. You control your own destiny, and throughout the season, you play to put yourself in this type of situation. You never know throughout a span of your career how many times you're going to be in this situation. Seeing how the FedExCup plays out in the past, it's tough to win, and it's tough to come back after you win. Don't take it for granted. I definitely am not taking it for granted this week to have this opportunity, so I look forward to the challenge this week. Q. Tony, when I reflect on your year, certain images come to mind, the celebration in the par-3 at Augusta, the injury, and then the way you went on to perform at the PGA Championship, the record-tying 10 birdies playing alongside Jim Furyk. You mentioned what you've learnt about yourself. When you reflect on 2018 so far, what have you learnt about yourself? TONY FINAU: Yeah, I've learned I'm pretty tough. I feel like my threshold for pain is pretty high, and I learned that during the Masters. My ankle was bothering me quite a bit, but I was able to play through that pain and still prove to myself, just inside, that I had it more than physically. I was able to allow myself to continue to play and ended up having a good week because of that. Same thing, I feel like my back was up against the wall after my first round on the PGA. I felt like I had a lot to prove to myself, more so than anything else, that I can play well when it counts. And especially, the Ryder Cup team is a team that I want to be on, and it was more real, being in that situation at the PGA than ever, playing in front of the captain, showing him who I was as a player, and having him see my game up close. I bounced back that Friday and came back with 10 birdies and was able to make the cut and play the weekend. I was extremely proud of those couple moments and just kind of told myself just how tough I feel like I can be. Q. Looking forward to next year, you'd be three back starting Thursday. Does that change the job at all or no because you can make that up pretty easily in 72 holes? TONY FINAU: Yeah, that's a good question. I haven't put that much thought into it, honestly. This year we all start from even par, and I have a chance to win this year. But that would quite -- it's quite different being a few shots back, but I guess you have to look at it as, you know, just like any other golf tournament. If you're a few shots back going into Sunday, you still feel like you have a chance to win. And then if you look at it as three shots back with 72 holes to play, and you definitely still fell like you're in the thick of it. So it's definitely different, but I think it's a unique way that the TOUR has simplified how you can watch as just an avid golfer. Q. Once you got your call from Jim, what was the flight like home to Utah? TONY FINAU: Yeah, it was an extremely cool flight, and I had the opportunity to fly back to Utah with the vice captain, Zach Johnson. I invited him to my foundation event, so I was on the plane with him. And I was just picking his brain and taking in all the information about what the Ryder Cup has to offer, what I can expect. But it was an extremely satisfying trip for me, and it was a lot of fun just to get that phone call. It was great. And now having time to reflect on it, it's a special time for me. But we've got some business to take care of next week in Paris, so that's kind of where our attention turns to as a team. Q. Just as a follow-up, there's a lot of talk about you possibly playing with Phil. A tandem like that, what would that partnership be like? TONY FINAU: Yeah, any one of the 11 guys I'd love to play with, Phil included. I think he's obviously shown to us he shines at the biggest moments, and especially in Ryder Cups. To have that opportunity to play with him would be extremely cool for me, and to be on a team with Tiger and Phil is really cool for me. I watched -- grew up watching them, both two of my golfing idols, and the opportunity I have to play with both of them and be in the team room with both of them and represent our country is pretty special for me. Q. Most of the guys say that the money this week isn't that much of a big deal for them, but I think when you were asked, you said, with four children is it, that it would be a big deal. Would it be life-changing, and how difficult will it be not to think of the money if you're in contention on Sunday? TONY FINAU: Yeah, I think most of us have trained ourselves to think about the hardware, if you will, and think about our place in history more than we think about money. And I think it's just -- we just train ourselves that way. When I practice and I train and I get ready to compete, it's exactly that. I'm just a competitive person. I want to win just like everybody else. I'm not thinking how much money am I going to make this week if I win. I want my name to be on that trophy for the history of golf, if that makes sense. Yeah, I have a family to feed, and I think most guys -- all 30 of us do. But that type of pressure I had more so when I was playing mini-Tour golf than PGA TOUR golf, if that makes sense, because of the amount of money that we played for compared to what I'm playing for now and what I've made. It's been nice to not think about that and just think about playing well and trying to win golf tournaments. Q. Going back to what you were saying about playing with Phil potentially at the Ryder Cup, you practiced yesterday with Tiger. Do you see a potential pairing with him and have you given thoughts to what that would be like for you? TONY FINAU: Yeah, I don't see a lot of potential playing with Tiger. Yesterday was the first time I played with him, so I don't think it's going to happen. But yesterday was pretty special for me because it's the first time I ever played with him in a practice round, tournament, whatever the case may be. I've been on TOUR four years now, and that's the first time I ever had the chance to play with him. Again, my golfing idol. That was a special day for me yesterday to play with him, pick his brain a little bit, and just get to know him a little bit better. It's going to be cool for us to get to know each other throughout this week, throughout next week and in the team room and just get to know all the guys. That was a special time for me yesterday. Q. Going back to that Masters when you hurt your ankle, if you can kind of put that into context, that moment sort of right afterward, to all that's happened between then and now. Could you have ever kind of imagined it playing out the way it did? TONY FINAU: Yeah, I don't know if I could have. I'm pretty positive person, I feel, but it was tough. When I woke up Thursday morning after Wednesday -- after the par-3 contest and all that happened to my ankle -- when I woke up Thursday morning, I couldn't put any weight on my left foot, and at that time is when I felt like this could be kind of a season-ender, if you will. If I have to take off two or three months and I'm not able to touch a club or whatever the case, and there's something with my foot or ankle, it'll be a season-ender and I'll have to look forward to whenever I can start playing and practicing again. From that time until now, it's pretty much been a miracle. Not only was I able to play the Masters, but I didn't really take any time off, and that was the advice that I got from my doctor, Stewart Love, who I work with out here on TOUR. You know, he told me the best thing you can do for you ankle is continue to play on it, so I took his advice, and I'm happy that I did because, again, I didn't have to take any time off, and here I am in a position to win the FedExCup. It's pretty cool. Q. With so many close finishes this year, do you feel like you just have to keep doing the same things with your game to get you over the finish line, or are you refining certain aspects of your game that will get you over the finish line to a victory this week? TONY FINAU: Yeah, I feel like I just keep doing what I'm doing and the rest will take care of itself, and then I feel like the wins will come. To me it's just the physical evidence of being up, high-ranking in the FedExCup, and my World Ranking moving up. I know that I'm trending in the right direction, if you will, and I feel like the wins will follow. So I just continue to do what we're doing. My team has been extremely supportive, my coach, my manager, just my family, everybody supports me, and they've been a huge help. Just continue to do what I'm doing, and I feel like some good things will happen. Q. You went on that scouting trip to Le Golf National a couple months ago. What do you think of the course? How often do you think you'll hit driver, and does that at all neutralize sort of your advantage over some other players? TONY FINAU: Yeah, I mean, first of all, I like the golf course, and to me it's just going to depend on the weather. If the wind blows, the course is hard for anybody. It plays that way because there's so much water that comes into play. When we played it a couple months back there was not a lot wind. Just with the group of guys we had, we made a lot of birdies. So it just depends on the wind. I know I can play any golf course. I've taught that to myself throughout my career, but especially this year. When you contend in the majors and you play well in the majors, they're all different. They all -- whether it's tight, whether it's rough, whether it's fast greens, slow greens at the British Open, elements you have to deal with, I proved to myself I know I can play any type of golf course. To me it's going to be weather-dependent and really wind-dependent on what type of golf we'll be playing that week. I look forward to that challenge when it comes. Q. You answered a lot of this to Brian's question, but I'm wondering if what happened to your ankle at Augusta had happened anywhere else and it wasn't going to be your first Masters tournament in two days or a day later, would you have probably withdrawn, and the fact that you didn't and played the way you did, was that the catalyst you needed to maybe have the confidence that you could achieve your potential now? TONY FINAU: Yeah, I think you put it perfectly. I think it was exactly what I needed. I finished in the top 10 at the Masters, in my first Masters. But in that specific scenario, I learned about myself and it gave me confidence moving forward in the majors and just throughout the rest of the season, and I've been able to continue to play with that confidence. I think if it was any other golf tournament in any other scenario, I probably would have withdrawn just because, again, when I woke up Thursday morning, I could barely walk, I could barely put any weight on my left foot. From that time, six hours later, I was supposed to tee it up. So a lot happened within that six hours trying to get myself ready with my trainer and just everyone, my coach, trying to figure out how are we going to adapt, what kind of technique changes do I need to make if this is actually going to happen. So a lot happened within that six hours. But if it wasn't my first Masters, in any other scenario, I probably would have withdrawn, but I'm happy I didn't. Q. You talked about being comfortable playing for $10 million. I think the Ultimate Game was $2 million, right? Can you compare how you feel now playing for $10 million compared to then playing for $2 million? TONY FINAU: Yeah, it was quite a bit different. I turned -- the biggest reason I turned pro was because of that specific event, the Ultimate Game, and I had a chance to win $2 million. My family's financial state at the time wasn't great, so that was a lot of money, and it could do a lot of good for me and my family, put us on a different path. The pressure there, I can't compare it to the pressure that I feel this week, just in the sense that that was life-changing. This would be life-changing. But I'm in a different state, my family is in a different financial state, and so it's just quite a bit different to think about. I know it's a lot more money, $10 million compared to $2 million, but the financial state that my family is now compared to 10 years ago when I was playing in that event, there's a lot more pressure when I was playing as a 17-year-old trying to win $2 million. Q. I'd be curious if someone from the other side of the ocean who will be at the Ryder Cup next week were to ask somebody, who's Tony Finau anyway, what do you think the answer they would give would be, and what do you think it should be? TONY FINAU: The answer would definitely be, oh, let me pull up his Masters ankle incident. That's who Tony Finau is. I get that more than anything else. Yeah, the answer should be one of the best players in the world. I feel -- last time I checked, I was 15th in the world, and that definitely qualifies as telling someone else this is one of the best players in the world, I feel. Hopefully that's the answer they get, and if they get the Masters one, then I'm fine with that, too. Q. Along the lines of Sean's question, it took a long time for you just to get to the Web.com. Do you remember a smaller event where you had a smaller finish or a significant check at the time that kept you going? TONY FINAU: Yeah, I won the TOUR Championship on this mini-Tour that was worth $62,000, and that was at the end of 2011. I knew pretty much my whole next season, my whole next year on the mini-Tours were going to be taken care of with that check. So that was huge for me. As a mini-Tour player, as a mini-Tour golfer, month by month you're trying to set up tournaments. So that golf tournament specifically, it was actually a TOUR Championship just for that specific Tour I won, and I was able to fund myself, yeah, for the rest of that next year and continue my dream of playing and getting to the PGA TOUR. Q. What was the tour and where were you playing? TONY FINAU: It was called the National Pro Golf Tour, and it was actually at Dove Mountain, which is actually a course that the PGA TOUR used to play the WGC Match Play. I won an event there, I shot 13-under, and I beat Scott Harrington, who is a good friend of mine. He's on the Web.com TOUR, and yeah, beat him by a couple shots and was able to take that check. At that time mini-Tour golf, it is about making money. As much as you want to win and have the pride of winning and competing, it is about winning money. At the time I had a son and just there was a lot going on in my life. That was a big part of helping me move forward in my career. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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