PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Tony Finau is still figuring things out after missing three cuts in his first four starts on the PGA Tour this season.
Coming off a disappointing 2025 campaign in which he failed to make the Tour Championship for the first time since 2017, snapping the Tour's longest-running streak (shared with Xander Schauffele who also didn't make it to East Lake) Finau has struggled out of the gate this season. But he got off to a fast start at the 2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, shooting a bogey-free 8-under 64 on Thursday at Spyglass Hill Golf Course. Did he feel as if a low round was coming?
“No, I can't say I did to be honest with you. Haven't had my best stuff all season,” he said. “But one thing, you know, my experience always teaches me is that when it's a new week, it's a new week. At any given time you can change the mojo of your season and I think this definitely can be considered that.”
On Thursday, Finau holed over 100 feet of putts. “The biggest putt I made all day was at one,” he said of a 6-foot par putt that got the ball rolling for him. His putter cooled off at Pebble Beach on Friday and he birdied the last for an even-par 72.
Finau, a six-time Tour winner but shutout from hoisting trophies since the 2023 Mexico Open, has been shaking things up in an effort to get back on track. For starters, he had surgery on his right ankle during the off-season in September and rushed back to play in the Dunhill Cup with his good friend Ryan Smith, owner of the Utah Jazz and also his amateur partner this week at the AT&T Pro-Am, and experienced a setback.
The 36-year-old Finau also began working with noted instructor Chris Como on his swing in the fall after being without a swing coach since parting ways with Boyd Summerhays, a year earlier.
Of Como he said, “He’s someone I sought out because of his history of helping guys who’ve been hurt.”
They’ve been working on improving his iron play, which has been his bread and butter throughout his Tour career before slipping last season. He ranked 135th in Strokes Gained: Approach a precipitous fall after being No. 2 in that category the previous season. “Just not up to par with my iron game. But today was a step in the right direction,” he said.
Finau has a new sidekick in Giff Nielson, who took over caddie duties at the Dunhill. If the name sounds familiar to sports fans, it should: he bears the same first name as his father, a star quarterback at BYU who played in the NFL and later was a longtime sports anchor in Houston. Finau said Nielson was roommate’s in college with Smith and he’s known him for more than a decade. Finau has been in search for the right fit on his bag since the summer when his former caddie departed to work with Collin Morikawa. Tim Tucker, former caddie for Bryson DeChambeau and Kurt Kitiyama, worked for Finau for a stretch and Finau said, “Tim still could be on the docket. I’m still test-driving (caddies).” [Finau also became an official endorser of Michael Jordan's Jumpman line this season and has been rocking some "Finau Fresh" looks.]
On Thursday, it was Smith’s pro-am caddie, former Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly, who captured Finau's mental toughness and ability to keep smiling through the tough times as he picked apart Spyglass on a picture-perfect day.
“It must be great to be you,” Reilly mused.
“I’ve got no complaints,” Finau said, a smile etched across his face. “I’ve got a great wife, I’ve got a great life.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Tony Finau's comeback: New coach, caddie, strong start at Pebble Beach