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THE 148TH OPEN

July 20, 2019

Tony Finau

Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Q. That was some reaction from the crowd out there on 18. It must have felt pretty nice.
TONY FINAU: Yeah, it felt pretty nice. Terrible tee shot. I would have taken 4 when I saw my tee shot in the air. But that's golf sometimes.

I took advantage. I had a good lie to hack it out by the green. And fortunate to flop that in.

Q. Talk about the round today. I assume you're pretty happy?
TONY FINAU: I played nice, yeah. I let some putts slip by, no question. But I also made a couple.

I don't know how the guys are going to finish up. They're playing some good golf. A lot of guys playing some good golf. It's probably going to take a low one out of me tomorrow. Weather looks like it's going to be rough. Could be a day to take a run up the leaderboard.

But I'm happy with the way I played today. I gave myself a lot of chances, a lot of looks for birdie. And I made a few. I missed a few. But on a Saturday, moving day, looks like I'm going to move up the leaderboard.

Q. Tell me what you were happy about most with your game today. And tell me what you weren't happy about mostly.
TONY FINAU: I stuck it nice all week. And then around the greens I got up and down for par when I needed to, to kind of save some momentum and just totally not have the wheels fall off in certain situations.

So I haven't hit the 14th green. I've been in tough positions to get up and down. I got up and down all three days. I think if you shoot even par on that hole throughout the week you're probably picking up a full shot on the field. Tough golf hole.

And then what's another one on the front? No. 4. Same thing, I got up and down from the left side today. Around the greens I've done some nice things and I'm hitting it nicely. Hopefully I can make a few more putts tomorrow.

Q. Talk about the weather. I'm sure you know what it's supposed to be like, and if it is, what will it be like?
TONY FINAU: Yeah, this is not Open Championship weather. This is not what we prepare for in the States. Growing up as a kid we were out there in gale force and rain and wind. So it's kind of nice to be able to play in some good weather. And obviously, like I said, the scores are showing how nice the weather is. Very scorable. And not crazy winds.

So be interesting to see how the guys finish up. But I look forward to tomorrow to finish up.

Q. When you know the weather is going to be poor like tomorrow, do you prepare differently on your end or do you have to get yourself into a certain mindset than you wouldn't have necessarily in nicer weather?
TONY FINAU: I'm going to have shots to make up, no matter what. So I'm going to be in aggressive mode. It's trying to win the tournament. I'm not trying to come close. So play aggressive, I'm going to have to.

That doesn't mean really anything changes for me. It just means I'm not going to leave a lot of putts short. I'm going to give myself some chances and hopefully I hit it well tomorrow to give myself some looks to make a run.

Q. When you need to catch up, which you know you'll do tomorrow, you might do some riskier moves where you might play it safe if you were in a different position. Is that what you're sort of suggesting?
TONY FINAU: I think it's more so putts. I'm not going to leave too many putts short tomorrow. Can't really afford to do that. We've got 18 holes. I need to make up 5, 6, 7 shots, whatever it's going to be.

Again, I came here to win. I've come close a few times. And coming close is nice, but it also stings. So try and make a run up this thing tomorrow.

Q. What is that you've done with your putting style, because it's unusual?
TONY FINAU: Yeah, it is, it's different. It's kind of my version of the pencil, if you will, it's like a chopstick. I only use three fingers on my right hand, just to kind of take it out of it. I use more of my left hand to putt with.

It was a putting drill that I tried, and about six weeks ago at the Colonial event on the PGA Tour I switched. I finished second there, I had a chance to win and I played really nicely. It's a grip that I've stuck with now for six or seven weeks.

Q. It gives you more with your left hand?
TONY FINAU: Yeah, it takes my right hand a little more out of it. And I think as a right-handed putter just in general, your right hand starts to get active conventionally. And I did cross-hand a few years ago, and then went back to conventional for two years and now I'm trying this.

Sometimes in putting it's not about how it looks, it's how it goes in the hole.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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