Yesterday, Tony Finau shot a 62 to take the lead in the PGA Tour’s Cadence Houston Open at Memorial Park in Houston, Texas. Today, he shot 68 to take a four stroke lead over Ben Taylor into tomorrow’s last round. Three players are tied for third at seven strokes behind Finau. Tony will be shooting tomorrow for his third win in his last seven PGA Tour tournaments. Wow! The Utah native is on a hot streak.
For several years, 6-foot, 4-inch tall and slender Tony Finau has been my favorite player on the PGA Tour. The long-hitting star has always had the game. But he kept finishing second, third, and fourth and thus not winning. I kept thinking, “Why can’t Tony win with his great game?” I’m not asking that anymore. The 33-year old has really come into his own now.
Tony drove in every fairway today, which he really saying something when you consider his length off the tee. And he missed only two greens in regulation. Plus, Tony Finau has a great, rhythmic putting stroke. I think he’s just about got this tournament in the bag to make it three wins in the last seven starts.
Memorial Park is such a good venue for the Houston Open. The Houston Open is one of the oldest tournaments on the PGA Tour. It used to be held there at Memorial Park, a municipal golf course owned by the City which doesn’t happen much on the PGA Tour. Memorial Park is only five miles from downtown Houston, the nation’s fourth largest city. But decades thereafter, the Houston Open was held at various golf clubs in north Houston, many miles away from downtown. This location at Memorial Park is so much better for the fans. And the course was renovated a few years ago to meet Tour standards.
The Houston Open, and Memorial Park in particular, bring back fond memories for me. I lived in metro-Houston for nearly 40 years. As a twenty-year old junior college student and amateur golfer at the University of Houston, I played in the Houston Open at Memorial Park in 1962 and was tied for second place with Jack Nicklaus, one stroke behind Tommy Aaron, after 36 holes. It was only my second tournament on the PGA Tour, both as an amateur. I finished in 11th place.
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