PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 18, 2021

Tony Finau

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back to the 2021 PGA Championship here at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, South Carolina. We're pleased to be joined by Mr. Tony Finau. Tony is currently ranked No. 14 in the official world golf rankings. He is playing in his seventh career PGA Championship.

Tony, do you see the Ocean Course as a typical PGA Championship golf course or one that deviates, and if your answer is deviates, how does it deviate?

TONY FINAU: Yeah, I played it for the first time yesterday. I played 18. I wanted to touch them all early in the week. It seemed more like a U.S. Open golf course to me, I think, if I'm being honest. I tipped it out. I wanted to play it at its max length.

But I thought there were some long holes. There was enough wind yesterday to cause some problems, so I thought it was quite tough.

It actually reminds me a little bit of -- it's a different version -- but of Harding Park when I first saw it. I didn't play Harding Park before the PGA Championship last year, but I also thought that that was -- not as much the PGA Championship's MO as far as toughness of golf course length, stuff like that.

You kind of expect that more in a U.S. Open. As the week went on at Harding Park I think guys were able to learn the golf course, a lot of the same wind, so I think guys were still able to score.

It'll be interesting to see how they mix up the tee boxes this week. Again, I played it at max length yesterday, so that was probably a big reason why it was playing really long. Felt like it played really tough, and it was my first go-around. As I get more familiar with the course maybe that'll change a little bit, but I really like the golf course. I was impressed with it, and it was nice to go around it for the first time yesterday.

THE MODERATOR: You compared it for a moment to Harding Park and you played well there last year. You were right in the thick of it until the end. Does that encourage you if you feel the golf courses are similar that you could do some damage here this weekend?

TONY FINAU: Yeah, no doubt. I look forward to major championships. I have a good record. But the energy that comes from playing these types of tournaments, I love PGA Championships, have had some success in some events as far as PGA Championships go, so I look forward to the week.

After seeing the golf course, it's in amazing shape. I don't know if we putted on greens as good as they are this week at the Ocean Course here at Kiawah Island. I look forward to the week, yeah. It's a great golf course. It's going to be a great test.

Q. Tony, courses do and don't play to the yardage on a card. You said it played really long yesterday. Can you give us a couple examples for your length where it even played really long?

TONY FINAU: Yeah, well, just the last five holes were straight into the wind, 14 to 18. 14 is a par-3. I hit a 3-iron from the back tee. It was more like my driving iron, which I flight about 255 yards. So I had to hit that club on 14.

15, I hit 4-iron into, which is a par-4.

16 is a par-5; I hit driver, 3-wood, and it was about 80 yards into the green on a par-5.

17, we played -- that's the only tee we played up. We didn't hit from the very back. We played the back tee but we played up. I hit a 4-iron into that green, which is a par-3, and then driver, 3-iron on 18 from the back tee.

I'm not used to hitting a lot of long irons, mostly into par-5s, not par-4s, so I think that gave me a little bit of a taste what it could be like this week.

They did give us a notice in the locker room and an email that they are going to switch up the tee boxes a lot. As I referred to earlier, I'm sure they'll do a great job of kind of switching it up a little bit and giving us a little bit of leniency when it comes to some of the length on some of those holes into the wind.

Q. I was going to ask you about the closing 66 last year. You buried a lot of putts coming in. Was that kind of a stepping-stone as you look forward to getting into the mix here more at majors like you've been?

TONY FINAU: Yeah, it was a big round for me. Just more so I had a chance to win coming down the stretch there. Morikawa made an amazing eagle on 16, which kind of put the tournament away for a lot of us that were hovering right around 10-under, which I think a lot of us were at.

So he was able to put the golf tournament away with one swing, but barring that, any one of us could have won that tournament, and I was included in that.

I think that was big for me. That was one of a few chances I've had to maybe win a major championship, or at least be in the thick of it with a few holes to go. I think that was a big stepping-stone for me, and it is always nice to play a good round of golf on a major Sunday.

Q. Along those same lines as far as moving tees, do the sight lines or where you're trying to play change depending on some of those forward tees they might have you guys play?

TONY FINAU: Yeah, no doubt. Right out of the gate No. 15 is a hole that comes to mind. It's a hole that you look like you want to hit it over the left bunker, but from that back tee it's pretty much impossible into the wind.

I tried to do that yesterday, and again ended up hitting a 4-iron out of that bunker and trying to get it on to the putting surface. If they move that tee box up a little bit I think you can cover some of that bunker on the left side there.

Another hole that comes to mind No. 9. If they move the tee up you can kind of cut the corner off. It's a little dogleg left.

So it'll be interesting to see how they mix it up throughout the week, but I think our job as players is to try to be prepared for all of it. That's why yesterday I wanted to play it pretty much at its max length to just play it at its toughest element and just know from there I can kind of move my sight lines as the tee moves up.

I think that's easier to do that than play where you think they're going to play it, and all of a sudden be surprised that they played a lot longer than maybe what you thought.

Q. Have you done that before, tried to play the course as hard as it possibly could play anywhere?

TONY FINAU: Yeah, I mean, I do it most of the time at home. I just like maxing it out and tipping it out to try to challenge myself and have the furthest I can into all the greens. I just know for sure yesterday was quite a test. That's why I referred to it as maybe a U.S. Open setup.

But again, I don't see them setting it up that way and maxing it out on every single hole, but I wanted to do that just to play the golf course at its max length.

Q. When you show up at a PGA TOUR event and you contend, people might end up being disappointed when you don't win. Do you almost feel less pressure showing up at a major championship, number one, because you have a good record in majors, and number two, because most of the players in the field haven't won a major before?

TONY FINAU: I don't know if it's less pressure or -- I feel really comfortable, I think, in major atmospheres, because I've put myself in contention in a lot of them. I've played in the Ryder Cup and I've played in a Presidents Cup, so I don't know if it's less pressure than maybe more comfortable than most of the field just playing at a high level in these tournaments.

But I look forward to the major championships. Tiger referred to them as the four weeks that mattered to him. A lot of the top players in the world feel the same.

As my career has evolved throughout the years I'm starting to feel the same. The major championships are the threshold of pro golf, and I'm happy that I've showed up for a lot of them. I haven't been able to win one yet, but the more I put myself there, hopefully I knock the door down, and hopefully it's this week.

Q. Brooks has talked about at a major he only feels like there's some portion of the field that he has to worry about. Do you feel the same way, given how you've performed?

TONY FINAU: Yeah, I think there's definitely a belief in major championships. I think there's only a certain amount of guys that actually believe they can win, like deep down. I think I'm one of those guys. I believe that I can win a major championship with my track record, with my type of game that holds up well on big golf courses, and under high-pressure situations.

I look forward to the challenge this week. This is the challenge we have at hand, and I think I'd have to agree with Brooks, there's only a certain amount of guys that believe they can get it done, and hopefully I'm that guy this week.

Q. Talking about probably having an advantage of your length if you tipped it all the way back, how much is your advantage negated if they start moving tees all over the place on this golf course?

TONY FINAU: Yeah, any time you play the tee boxes up a little bit more or don't play the full length of the golf course, I think it takes away some of the advantage. But there's always an advantage when you hit it further than most of the field.

It's not only off the tee. I think most people refer to length being off the tee, but it's hitting into the green with a little more lofted club, being able to hold your ball a little faster than most guys. Whether that's into the wind, downwind, that's a big advantage.

Hitting out of the rough. Yesterday on No. 4 I drew a terrible lie out of the rough on the left side. It was into the rough only about a foot and the ball was almost buried. I was about 190 yards into the wind but I was able to -- I probably swung harder on that than any shot I hit yesterday, and able to get that within 40 yards of the green. I think that's a big advantage. Maybe most guys would be able to advance that ball 60 or 70 yards, and I was able to advantage it 140 yards.

But I think length is a lot more than just off the tee. I think it's into the greens and hitting it out of the rough. When you're able to advance your golf ball a lot further than most guys, I think that's an advantage, as well.

Q. This week you get to use the yardage devices as well as your book. Which one would you rely on more?

TONY FINAU: Yeah, you mean like during the tournament we're able to use a -- we really are? I didn't know. We can use our range finders during competition?

Q. Certain facets of the range finder operation, yeah. No slope.

TONY FINAU: I didn't know that. I haven't had time to think about it. But I'm sure I'll just refer to what I'm used to, which is just looking at the yardage book, walking it off with my caddie. There's a lot more numbers, I think, than just the flagstick for us.

But that's interesting. I didn't know that. I'll tell my caddie and then we'll do some work with it.

Q. Did you know you guys get to scoop away all the two-footers this week? (Laughter.)

TONY FINAU: Three-footers you said? I'm in.

Q. When Brooks made his comment about the number of guys that can win, if you have belief that you can win, do you have to have either won one in the first place or at least contended for that belief to count for anything?

TONY FINAU: I think that's a big part of it. I think the big part of the confidence comes from being there before. I think a great example is Gary Woodland. Before 2019 he hadn't posted a top 10. He posted a top 10 at the PGA Championship and he wins the next major. I think that confidence is huge, just being there before and having performed under that immense pressure.

And I think for most cases that's true. Not all. Collin Morikawa wins last year. Amazing talent, but I don't know that he had been in that situation before. So it's not in all cases, but I would say in most cases, having that advantage of just being there before, knowing what it feels like and tastes like, I think is a big part of having the confidence to close one in major championships.

THE MODERATOR: Tony, thank you for spending some time with us, and best of luck this week.