Ever since the emergence of LIV Golf, there have been questions over whether there is any animosity between players who opted to join circuit and those on other tours.
It was a subject that came into even greater focus in the build-up to January’s Dubai Desert Classic, where Rory McIlroy admitted his friendship with Sergio Garcia can’t be rekindled.
One player who doesn’t have any hard feelings, though is Tony Finau. The American spoke to TMZ Sports (opens in new tab) while he was competing in last week WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale and was asked: “Tony, are you still cool with the LIV guys?” He responsed: “Yeah, oh yeah.”
Finau was then asked who he misses the most, and he replied: “A lot of the international guys I miss – Carlos Ortiz, Abraham Ancer.” Then he revealed: “Brooks Koepka’s one of my closest guys on Tour,“ before saying: “I haven’t seen them in literally, like, a year.” When the reporter responded: “Damn, that sucks,” Finau simply admitted: “I know, it does.”
Over a year ago, Finau admitted he’d had an approach from the Saudi-backed organisation, and seemed open-minded about his future at the time, saying: “I mean, yeah, I’ve been approached just like I think most top guys, as you would expect. I don’t have a stance on it yet. I think we’re just like everyone, don’t really know what’s going on with that. But I’m grateful to be on the PGA Tour, it’s been an honour for me to have an opportunity to play and display my talent in front of the world on a tour like the PGA Tour, so much history there.”
In the end, he stayed with the PGA Tour and enjoyed a remarkable 2022, where he claimed three victories. This year has not started badly for the 33-year-old either, with two top-10 finishes from his four appearances as his PGA Tour career continues to flourish.
Thankfully for Finau, he shouldn’t have too long to wait until he runs into some of his friends from the PGA Tour’s rival. Augusta National announced in December that it will allow LIV Golf players to compete in The Masters. Two of the players Finau mentioned he misses – Ancer and Koepka – qualified, meaning a long overdue catch-up is now less than two months away.
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