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Tony Finau might have had some advice for 17-year-old golfer Blades Brown before Brown decided to turn pro in December.
“If I did say go to college, I would be a hypocrite, because I didn’t go to college,” Finau said with a laugh on Wednesday, one day before The American Express golf tournament tees off. “So being someone that turned pro at 17 years old, which I did, I don’t have, I didn’t have the talent or I guess I didn’t have the skills that this kid has, from what I’ve seen.”
Finau’s decision to turn pro resulted in a few years of bouncing around mini-tours in and around his native Utah and getting spot starts on the DP World Tour, the developmental Korn Ferry Tour and the PGA Tour itself.
In was in the 2014 Korn Ferry season when Finau broke through, with one win and five top-10 finishes to finish eighth on that tour and earn a PGA Tour card for 2015. Since then, Finau hasn’t looked back with six career wins.
Finau has no problem with Brown, a Nashville, Tenn., teenager and past medalist at the U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Amateur, turning pro. In fact, turning pro at such a young age and getting spots in PGA Tour events could be the best thing for Brown.
“You know, it’s an incredible advantage, I feel, to be young and playing on the PGA Tour at 17 years old, having an opportunity to play,” Finau said. “It was an advantage I feel like for me. I was able to see the best players in the world up close, and I went through years where, some of the mini-tour years, where I struggled, but I knew where my game could get. I knew where I needed to get because I had already had the experience of playing with some of the best players in the world.”
Brown said basically the same thing in his pre-tournament conference in La Quinta, saying being in PGA Tour events will force him to improve his game. Brown played in one PGA Tour event in 2024, making the cut and tying for 26th at the Myrtle Beach Classic as an amateur.
More: ‘Going to school on the PGA Tour’: 17-year-old Blades Brown makes pro debut at American Express
Finau, who is playing in his eighth consecutive The American Express and serves as an ambassador for the title sponsor, said what Brown can learn in his seven PGA Tour starts through sponsor’s exemptions this year can’t necessarily be matched anywhere else.
“That experience is going to be invaluable to him, no matter how he does this week, and I wish him the best,” Finau said. “And I’m sure we’re going to see a lot of great golf from him in the future.”
As for his own game this week, Finau is happy to be in The American Express, where the scoring seems to get lower each year.
“I like making birdies, I think it suits me well. The first couple tournaments on the PGA Tour, first few tournaments are that way, and then you get into some golf courses that aren’t that way,” Finau said. “But for early in the season I do like the shoot-out and having to make birdies.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Tony Finau recalls turning pro at age 17 like Blades Brown at American Express
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