After the Hero World Challenge replaced Tony Finau with Sepp Straka in its 20-man field at the last minute, many figured Finau would join LIV Golf in the ensuing days.
Tony Finau not joining LIV Golf after all, missing Hero World Challenge due to injury
A report from Golfweek silenced the rumors about Tony Finau’s pending move to LIV Golf.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
But that rumor has been put to bed. According to Adam Schupak of Golfweek, Finau withdrew from the Hero World Challenge because he had surgery on Oct. 15. The operation repaired a torn meniscus and cleaned up cartilage.
“From what my doctor told me, it was a pretty standard clean-up,” Finau told Golfweek.
“He said it would be helpful, and so I did it.”
Finau last played at the Presidents Cup, where he posted a 2-2-0 record to help the Americans win the competition by an 18.5-to-11.5 margin.
His operation came two weeks after that, as he wanted to help the U.S. secure a win before going under the knife. But rumors of him joining LIV picked up since, especially after Monday Q Info reported that Finau had not yet committed to The Sentry, the season-opening event at Kapalua on the island of Maui.
“They’re not true,” Finau said of the rumors.
“I’m more than happy where I’m at on the PGA Tour and looking forward to 2025. When I tee it up in Maui [in January], it will all go away, so, I don’t worry about it one bit.”
Finau’s wife, Alayna, posted a TikTok video earlier this week addressing these rumors.
“My life is complicated enough,” she said.
“The last thing I need is more drama.”
The camera then panned to her husband, who gave a thumbs-up without raising any alarm bells or addressing the LIV gossip.
Nevertheless, Finau is supposed to play in next week’s Grant Thornton Invitational, the mixed-team event where one PGA Tour star and one LPGA star team up alongside one another. Finau is paired with World No. 1 Nelly Korda, who won seven times this season and took home player of the year honors. But Finau, a Grant Thornton ambassador, admitted that he is unsure if he can swing it this year. He and Korda tied for fourth last December.
Yet, the Utah native will try to practice in the coming days, opting to take it easy on his knee instead of committing to playing back-to-back weeks.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
