64 golfdigest.com | may 2019
Courtesy of thefinau familymeet them at the range
▶ Tony and Boyd let us video
a 30-minute practice session
at McDowell Mountain Golf
Club in Scottsdale. Hear their
fascinating give-and-take as
Tony pounds drivers and
demonstrates different types
of tee shots. An unfiltered look
at what a top player and coach
work on. Watch it as part of our
Golf Digest Schools program:
golfdigest.com/allaccess.no funny finish
▶ I’m purposely not doing a big
part on impact here, because
we’re talking about setting up
the right things—clubface, swing
path, body angles—so the strike
will pay off. Slicers try to save
the swing at impact by jerking
the club left or flipping the face
closed. If you do your job at
address and going back, you can
give the ball a good, athletic rip.
That said, it’s smart to have
an image of your follow-through.
Boyd and I have worked on what
we call a “passive release,”
meaning there’s no handsy move
to control the face. I’m rotating
my body through in sync with
the club (above). I want the toe
to point upward (square) here.
You might be thinking, Why not
close the face to get rid of a slice?
That’s an unreliable fix. Better to
have the face all set, and just turn
through. I’ll take reliable—I plan
to be on tour awhile. •
remembering mom▶ In 2011, when I was 22, I lost my
mom in a car accident. She was
an amazing lady, who filled me
with confidence and positivity
every day. I grew up with seven
siblings in a small apartment in
Salt Lake City. My four brothers
and I shared a bedroom. But we
didn’t know what we didn’t have.
My brother Gipper and I fell in
love with golf at an early age,
and our parents gave us what we
needed to play the game. That’s
all we knew back then.
My dad was a great athlete,
and my mom played volleyball
at BYU-Hawaii, so we were a
sports-crazed family. But golf isdifferent, beyond the financial
part. With its ups and downs,
golf requires commitment and
perseverance more than other
sports. In my mother, I had an
incredible force for good in my
life. She made me feel special
and strong even when the game
was wearing me down. It was
hard to give up on myself when
I knew my mother never would.
It took me six tries to get
through tour school, and when
I finally did in 2013, I broke down
thinking about how my mom’s
enthusiasm and support always
lifted me up. Getting my card is
my biggest accomplishment in
golf so far, and I never take that
for granted. People say golf is
an individual’s game, but for me,
it’s always been much more than
that. My family has been a huge
part of my career, my mother
especially. Whenever I needed to
hear I could do something, she
was there. She really didn’t knowmuch about golf, which was
probably a good thing, but she
was always there, upbeat and
smiling. Showing how much
she loved me.
I know she’s still with me,
telling me in Samoan “Fa’a
Malosi,” which means “Be
strong.” I have my sad moments,
around special times like
Mother’s Day, but mostly I’m
happy remembering how she
lived. Treating people with
kindness and making them feel
loved. I know she’s proud of what
I’ve been able to do in golf, but
more important to me is carrying
on the attributes she had.
The very things that made the
biggest difference for me.
Now that my wife, Alayna,
and I have four kids of our own,
I find myself thinking about how
rare my mother really was. I think
about how blessed I was to have
her. The mountain is high to
climb in professional golf, but
I know I have something very
special on my side. My mother’s
influence is very strong in my life,
and it’s hard to deny that feeling
when you have it every day.