July 09, 2006
16-Year-Old Tony Finau Wins State Am
Deseret Morning News
MIDWAY — Anyone watching Sunday's Men's State Amateur final, may have noticed the bright green paper bracelet on Tony Finau's right wrist. It looked like one of those silly bracelets they give you when you go to the hospital.
Actually, it was one of those silly paper hospital bracelets.
You see, less than 24 hours before the start of the State Am, the 16-year-old Finau was in the hospital diagnosed with "walking pneumonia." He kept the band on his wrist all week to remind himself how close he came to not being able to play in the tournament he's been hoping to win since he took up golf eight years ago.
Amid a lot of sun and a little rain at Soldier Hollow Golf Course, Finau duplicated Daniel Summerhays' feat of winning the State Am as a 16-year- old by beating the now-22-year-old Summerhays 3 and 2 in the scheduled 36-hole final.
"It feels awesome to win," said the strapping 6- foot-3, 190-pound Finau, who hits the ball a mile. "I played great and feel like a worthy champion, especially beating Danny, a two-time champion. This will be a big boost for me."
Finau, who lives in the Rose Park area of Salt Lake, felt fortunate just to be competing in the State Am, which he had played in the previous four years, reaching match play three times.
Earlier in the week, Finau was checked into Primary Children's Hospital. After spending Monday night there, he was released Tuesday afternoon around 3 with antibiotics to take. He said he felt "horrible" and doubted whether he could play the next day.
"I didn't know if I had the strength to do anything," he said. Still, he made it out for his Wednesday morning tee time. "I hit my first drive 100 yards to the right. I was thinking, 'maybe I should just go home.' "
It's a good thing he didn't.
Finau managed a first-round 73 and followed with a 69 Thursday to earn the No. 12 seed for match play. He won his first two matches Friday and came back to win two more Saturday, setting up his big match with Summerhays, who won the State Am in 2000 and 2001 and is a junior-to-be at BYU.
After falling behind by two holes on the front nine, Finau came back to win No. 9 and four holes on the back nine to take a 3-up lead at the lunch break. Then in the afternoon, after seeing his lead slip to two, he won three holes in a five-hole stretch and won it at No. 16 with a conceded par with another of his tremendous lag putts.
"He played great," said Summerhays, gracious as always. "Tony doesn't act like a 16-year-old. He never gets rattled. He hits the ball long, he hit some great iron shots and made some great putts. He certainly deserved to win."
In short, Tony was simply Finau-menal.
Summerhays' strategy was the same as he'd had all week. He hit mostly 3-woods from the tee to get in position to hit the green and make some putts.
The fact that he was consistently outdriven by Finau by 50-plus yards didn't bother him. What bothered him was his poor putting.
"I had a problem with my distance control," he said. "The greens were really fast, and the pins were a lot tougher today."
Summerhays took a 2-up lead after eight holes, but Finau sank a 40-footer at No. 9, which he said later, "gave me a lot of confidence." Summerhays didn't win another hole in the morning round as Finau birdied 10, 12, 17 and 18.
In the afternoon, Summerhays won No. 2 with a birdie, but Finau hit his tee shot at the par-3 No. 8 hole within seven feet and sank the putt.
That was a key to the match, Summerhays said later. "His birdie at No. 8 was awesome. The pin was way back on that hole."
Finau gave a hole back at 9 when he hit his tee shot into the water but won 11 and 12 to go 4-up.
That's when a cloudburst hit the golf course, and Finau, bothered a bit by wet grips, made three straight bogeys. However, Summerhays could only take advantage of one hole, No. 15, where he made a par after hitting into a bunker.
"He bogeyed, but I couldn't par 13 and 14," Summerhays said. "I could have made the match interesting with the weather conditions like they were."
While Summerhays had his usual large following, including his father, Lynn, as his caddy, Finau also had a large contingent of family and friends. He gave a lot of credit for his fine putting to his caddy and uncle, Toa Afo.
Finau has a busy schedule the rest of the summer with Junior World this week in San Diego and the Westfield Junior in Ohio in August. By winning the State Am, Finau qualified for a spot in the Pacific Coast Amateur in San Francisco later this month, and he and his family were checking their schedules to see if he can fit it in.
Summerhays is off to the Pacific Northwest Amateur in Vancouver today, and he'll try to qualify for August's U.S. Amateur and play in the Pacific Coast Amateur, perhaps with Finau. He'll try for his third State Am title again next summer, where he'll find Finau standing in his way again.
