Tony Finau’s 2026 campaign does not match his reputation. The six-time PGA Tour winner has posted only one top-10 finish in 23 starts. Thus, he arrives at the Bank of Utah Championship searching for answers after a challenging regular season. In an attempt to make things right, he is changing something he has trusted for years. Instead of his regular putter, he is sticking with a hockey stick-like putter he adopted last month.
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He was using this putter at Biltmore Championship Asheville, too. He liked it and is sticking with it now.
“I put it in the bag about a month ago. I really liked the basic math of it, or basically what it teaches is everything is pointing to target, everything is lined up with the face. So nothing is — it’s not a round grip. It’s literally perfectly flat, but everything, the way you put your hands on it, it all faces the exact same angle as the putter face. I thought that was a really cool thing, and I just think it’s easier to aim,” Tony Finau said.
“I’ve always been really good from 20, 25-plus feet throughout the history of my PGA Tour career, and then as I got closer to the hole, not as good. Aiming to me is the most important thing. The closer you get to the hole, the better you have to aim. You don’t have time to manipulate the face on a short putt. So it seems to help me aim better, and that’s why I put it in the bag.”
It didn’t have much impact on his game, as he missed the cut at the North Carolina event. He opened with a 78 and then followed it with a 71 to finish seven-over 149 midway. The American professional was way off with his driving and putting. He lost close to five strokes in driving across both rounds. As for SG: Putting, he was -2.087.
But as he noted, he is good up to 20 or 25-plus feet from the hole. In fact, his SG: Around-the-Green is 0.315 this season. He ranks 13th on the PGA Tour in that stat. But in everything else, especially putting, he lags behind. With -0.257 strokes gained in putting, he ranks 122nd. This has led to a decline in his form.
This season, Tony Finau has made the cut in only 16 of his 23 starts. It is much worse than last year. He had made only one top-10 finish last year, too, but at least he had made 15 cuts in 20 starts. He had five top-25 finishes last year, compared to four this year. The American golfer even broke his 11-year streak of making it to the FedExCup Playoffs.
But apart from these past two years, the American professional has shown excellent skills on the PGA Tour. In 2024, for instance, he missed the cut in only two events. Of the 20 cuts he made, he finished runner-up at the Texas Children’s Houston Open and registered 15 top-25 finishes. During the 2022-2023 season, he won the Cadence Bank Houston Open and the Mexico Open. This shows a gradual decline in his form and performance.
However, Tony Finau said that he has been working hard on his game and his body. As a result, he feels positive heading into the Bank of Utah Championship. He also has a solid strategy in place.
Tony Finau opens up about the strategy for the Bank of Utah Championship
Finau is looking to get back in the winner’s circle. But it won’t be easy because the Black Desert is a challenging course. This will be his first time playing there.
Finau believes it is a unique golf course because the out-of-bounds is lava. The red rocks, black lava, and mesmerizing views make it both beautiful and challenging.
“It’s not a golf course that I’m looking particularly to play super aggressively on. I’m going to play it a lot more conservatively than I think I would have liked. I would have liked to be playing a golf course where I can hit more drivers and have that kind of luxury to use my distance,” Tony Finau said.
The 37-year-old believes that if he plays it correctly rather than aggressively, he can score better over 72 holes. Thus, he won’t be hitting many drivers this week. Instead, he will be going for driving iron. His idea is to keep the ball on the fairway as much as possible.
Tony Finau’s conservative strategy at Black Desert could give him the controlled approach he needs as he continues searching for consistency. After switching to an unconventional putting setup to address his struggles on the greens, the six-time winner will now hope a disciplined game plan helps him find a much-needed turnaround in Utah.