Essentially, my parents directed me in the right path. They were all for me turning professional and starting that journey as a family with my golf career.
Tony Finau
It will be a great accomplishment if I become the best player in the world. But if my children can grow up with great core values and become great people and do good things and are happy, then, man, that would bring me great joy.
The things that transpired in my life, they didn't happen in the order that they're supposed to, or are ideal. Everything just kind of fell in my lap at a young age. Things were thrown at me very fast.
I generally mark my ball with a quarter, but sometimes I'll use a Canadian one-dollar coin. I have a bunch from when I played on the Canadian Tour. I'm not superstitious.
I think the Polynesian people and the gospel are in harmony. We're very respectful people, and very humble people... and I try and let that shine through as much as possible.
I had a chance to win $2 million, a week after high school graduation, and if I turned pro, the sponsor was going to financially support me.
In 2013, I changed to left-hand low, or cross-handed. And it's helped a lot. At the time, the reason I switched was just a lot of inconsistency with putting. I was either making a lot of putts, or I was missing a lot of putts.
If the rules aren't going to protect the integrity of the game, then they're wrong.
Having a family, taking care of your kids and people outside yourself, maybe it's motivated me more to give that extra something.
I know a lot of kids following in my footsteps, not only from my heritage, but there's younger generations trying to follow in my footsteps, so it's really cool just to be the start of something pretty special for our culture.
I'm really proud, just seeing a lot of the kids that have been inspired by me. There's a lot of great athletes all over the world, and some of them don't have the access or opportunity to play the game of golf.
It's cool to be able to dunk. I'm pretty tall and pretty long. My body's probably built more for basketball than for golf.
One of the things I learned growing up, a rule that I go by, is just never give up. That's one thing that I had to keep telling myself.
I wear green on Sunday because it's my mom's favorite color, but green goes pretty well on Sunday at the Masters, too.
I'm from Samoan heritage, and with the rugby in our blood and everything, I always felt I've been tough, and that my tolerance for pain is pretty high.
The crazy thing is, the last club I ever learned to hit was my driver. My brother and I ended up being known for our distance, but we had no idea how far we could hit the ball because we hit it the same, and all of a sudden, we're going to tournaments, and we're driving the par-4s. At 10 years old, I was hitting it, like, 240.
When I was on the Ryder Cup team and I surrounded myself with the other 11 guys and our captains, being in that locker room, it gave me an extra sense of confidence.
I use the low-spinning Pro V1 left dot. I mark it with the logo for the Tony Finau Foundation.
This whole golf thing was so left field for us, as Polynesians, but he had a lot of knowledge about sports in general. My dad was a genius, really. He was an absolute genius.
I feel like listening is a huge part of life - not only listening to people, but listening to people that you believe in, people who you think are wise.
For so many years, I was watching my tee shots slide hard to the right. I used to think I was hitting a draw at times, and the ball was still curving to the right! I still prefer to play a little fade, but I've had to recalibrate my visuals.
When I got on tour in 2014, I was hitting a slice off the tee. No joke. Yeah, I had plenty of power, and I knew how to play the curve, but I was a tour player who was watching his tee shots peel 30, 40 yards to the right.
Because my lower body is quiet, I need a full shoulder turn to generate power and speed. Keep your tempo smooth, and with the quiet lower body, you don't have to worry about losing your balance.
I find that my upbringing in the Church and my relationship with God are huge benefits to me in helping me become the kind of person that I want to become.
I do my best on the golf course. I am learning about the business side of it. But I have a lot of great partners that help me with all those things.
How you think, and how much you think, is so important in golf. There are countless things we can work on and think about in the swing, but when it's time to play in competition, you don't want to think too many thoughts.
I just had different circumstances than most players, and I think that has been an advantage - maybe I carry a little chip on my shoulder with just how tough it was for my parents to overcome some of those financial situations.
I enjoy the challenge of being a father... I try to do my best to be there for my children.
I am extremely proud to be of Tongan and Samoan descent. We are really proud of our culture and, really, just being a minority.
We grew up in the Rose Park section of Salt Lake City. It's a good neighborhood but a tough one, on the poor side but proud. Sports are big. You learn to fight.
I'm not an alcohol drinker. Instead of the real beer, I just go with root beer.
The Ping 51-degree makes for a nice transition from the irons. On my 60, it says 8 degrees of bounce, but I grind it to about 5 or 6 degrees. I tried a head with less bounce, but it just didn't look right.
We didn't have cable TV. We just couldn't afford it. But you don't need cable to watch the Masters. In 1997, at the exact moment I started out, I watched Tiger Woods win the Masters.
Everything I do is deeply rooted in my faith and especially in Jesus Christ.
When your hands are cold, and you're hitting with old, low-quality irons - my first one was a Merlin model with a green shaft - you learn what to do to hit the ball solid.
Mini-tour life isn't a glamorous, professional golf life. If you're not on the PGA Tour, it is very tough financially.
Golf is an extremely expensive sport, and growing up, I didn't come from a lot, but my parents sacrificed a lot for me to compete, and my goals were their goals.
Staying in the moment is not worrying about the outcome but just focusing on the process on the next shot.
There are a lot of great athletes on the PGA Tour and a lot of good basketball players. But I can definitely put my name in the mix as one of the best.
I don't really get to attend church. That's definitely one of the challenges. I'm always playing on Sunday, and that's tough because I really never get to take the sacrament - maybe once every three or four months when I'm home and have a week off.
I think the biggest challenge when I'm on the road is being away from my family.
I definitely take time to smell the flowers because I feel like my upbringing was quite a bit different than most guys on Tour.
I have a little different perspective on this whole golf thing than maybe some other players. So I definitely take time to realize where I'm at in my life. And I know that I'm blessed.
As a rookie, I need to play a lot. I need to know what courses I like and adjust to the atmosphere and the lifestyle of playing at the highest level.
It was tough to fail year after year. I never even got to the final stage until I got my card on the Web.com Tour. But I always believed that I could be something special. I just had to prove it to myself.
The No. 1 institution in the world is family. It's so powerful.
A lot of times, college can get you sidetracked. I was ready to turn my full attention to golf.
Needless to say, the Masters is the tournament I'd like to play in and win the most. I've never seen it in person and wouldn't go even if you gave me tickets, because I made a promise to myself as a kid that I wouldn't go until I played my way there.
It's the Tiger Woods effect. What he was able to accomplish at such a young age - he drew me to the game, and I can only speak for myself, but a lot of the players that are my age saw Tiger in his prime when we were all teenagers. We all wanted to be like him.
I've taken two weeks off before I've played a major, and I've played two straight weeks before a major as well. I definitely feel it's important, whether I've taken time off or played right before, that I take necessary rest time in the weeks before the tournament.
