Tony Finau made a drastic change at this week’s Truist Championship in the hopes of turning his performances around.
The six-time PGA Tour winner is trialling a broomstick putter this week after a number of seasons of disappointing results.
Finau hasn’t finished inside the top 10 all season and has four missed cuts to his name. His last win was at the 2023 Mexico Open, and his last time coming close to winning on the PGA Tour was two seasons ago.
His opening round of the Truist saw him move to within touching distance of the top of the leaderboard, but it was no thanks at all to his new putter.
Tony Finau ranked in the bottom 10 in putting with new broomstick putter
Finau shot four-under for his opening round at Quail Hollow, leaving him four shots off the leading Matt McCarty. And that was despite his performance on the greens, not because of it.
He lost 2.23 strokes to the field with his putting, making him the seventh-worst putter in the Truist Championship field through 18 holes.
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The PGA Tour heads to Quail Hollow for the last event before the PGA Championship
What saved Finau’s scorecard was his play around the greens. He consistently stuck it close with his chipping, gaining a field-best 3.6 strokes around the green. Finau was actually the best player from tee-to-green, gaining 5.77 strokes.
Finau really should be leading this golf tournament, but it looks like his putter switch is holding him back. And that was entirely predictable.
Why Tony Finau should not have changed to a broomstick putter
This move would make sense if Finau’s putting was holding him back, but that hasn’t been the case over the last two seasons.
Looking at his Strokes Gained data, it’s red across the board, but he’s actually gained strokes on the green in 2026.
Where Finau has lost strokes not just this season, but last season too, is off the tee. He ranks 150th on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy, hitting just 50% of fairways, and 80th in driving distance. That puts the American 142nd in total driving on the tour this year.
In modern golf, that’s simply not going to cut it, and he should be spending his days and nights addressing that instead of messing around with a broomstick putter.
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