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Tony Finau, the six-time PGA Tour winner, dropped a bombshell on December 11 that left everyone anxious. Most probably the world number one, Nelly Korda. The professional confirmed his withdrawal from the second edition of the Grant Thornton Invitational just 48 hours before it began. The quick and ultimate take was that he was going to LIV Golf. What fueled this assumption was that Finau had also withdrew from Hero World Challenge, something Jon Rahm also did in 2023. Finau later contradicted this claim, stating that he had left knee surgery to repair a damaged meniscus and remove cartilage.

“I am disappointed to have to withdraw from the Grant Thornton Invitational,” Tony Finau said, expressing his displeasure. Team FiNelly finished fourth in 2023 and hoped to win the championship this year. Nelly Korda was later paired with her casual tennis partner, Daniel Berger, for the mixed-gender tournament.

Fast-forwarding to today, Tony Finau appears to have recovered now, and is strongly making a statement in favor of PGA Tour. According to @NUCLRGOLF on X, Finau will compete in the PGA Tour’s 66th annual American Express event. This signature event will take place at PGA West in La Quinta from January 16-19, 2025. And it will be interesting to see if he can defeat last year’s winner, Nick Dunlap. Notably, Dunlap created history last year by becoming first amateur to win the PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson in 1991.

Coming year, apart from Dunlap, Finau will face stiff competition from Hero World Challenge winner Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim, Rickie Fowler, and others. Fans are quite pleased with this, especially because this nullifies the reports of him moving to LIV entirely.

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When the golf community suspected Tony Finau would move to LIV Golf

It all started with Finau’s withdrawal from Bahamas based event. In 2023, rumors of Rahm’s defection were swirling around, they solidified when he withdrew from HWC. This year was same for Finau. Fans assumed that the knee injury was a cover-up, making some people also call him a ‘crybaby.’ Finau dismissed the allegations as “not credible” and stated, “I’m more than happy where I am on the PGA Tour and look forward to 2025.” “When I tee it up in Maui [for The Sentry], it will all be gone, so I’m not concerned,” the 35-year-old said.

Interestingly, this year is not the first time golfer has witnessed LIV rumors. Last year was the same. He denied then too, saying, he’s “looking forward to playing my 10th season on the PGA Tour. As this year comes to an end I’m grateful to play the game that I love and to have the opportunity to compete at the highest level. Thank you to my partners for your continued support. Thank you to the fans for all the love for our whole Finau fam.”

But finally, Tony Finau has put the rumors to bed and reaffirmed his commitment to the PGA Tour. And with his knee injury behind him, the anticipation is high for who will win the 66th annual American Experience event. What do you think? Will it be Dunlap, or #1 Scottie Scheffler, or our fully recovered Tony Finau? Drop your thoughts in the comment section below!