The Genesis Invitational

Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course)



    Winner's Bag

    The clubs Tony Finau used to win the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open

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    November 13, 2022
    1441227862

    Logan Riely

    After Tony Finau won the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, it took him five years, four months, 26 days to get win No. 2 in 2020. Since then, however, winning has become a regular occurrence for the 33-year-old, who picked up two victories this past summer and tacked on another at the Cadence Bank Houston Bank, winning in dominating style with a four-shot victory.

    With Finau the driver is almost always a weapon. However, at Memorial Park Golf Course he used it in a manner in which he's not usually accustom. Known for unleashing prodigious drivers, Finau instead was a fairway-finding machine in Texas, ranking fourth in driving accuracy, aided by hitting every fairway during the third round.

    “I don't think I've ever done [that in] my career on the PGA Tour,” Finau said after the third round. “I think incrementally throughout my career I've hit it better, and last year I saw a lot of good signs of hitting some good drives where I needed to. You know, I don't mind hitting a driver into the wind. I have no problem hitting it low. Maybe that's one that I've got to throw in the back pocket and use more often.”

    Finau’s driver is Ping’s G425 LST, the low-spin version of the G425. The Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70 TX shaft is tipped 1.5 inches and the driver has a swingweight of D-7. For the week, Finau ranked second in strokes gained/off the tee, a little more than four strokes better than the field average.

    G425 MAX/G425 SFT/G425 LST
    G425 MAX/G425 SFT/G425 LST

    WHAT IT DOES: Ping’s design philosophy since its founding six decades ago has been all about managing mis-hits, and this large, perimeter-weighted driver maintains some of the highest stability on off-center hits in the industry. However, drivers that pursue large dimensions and maximum stability fight a center of gravity that drifts higher as it moves toward the back. That can cause shots to spin too much and lose distance. The G425 models use ultra-thin, web-like ribs on the underside of the crown to reduce thickness (barely three bills thick) to save weight that keeps the CG low.

    $550

    Finau’s work on the greens was not to be overlooked as well; he ranked second in strokes gained/putting, picking up nearly eight shots on the field. On Sunday, Finau made a couple of big bombs to stretch his lead with a 40-footer at the par-5 eighth that was followed by a 19-footer at the next hole.

    The putter Finau used in Houston is a Ping PLD Anser 2D, a wide-body blade at 37 inches in length and 5 degrees of loft. Interestingly, the putter has a drawn-on arrow in the heel area that Finau uses to assist his alignment.

    Which clearly is also pointing the way to victory with ever-increasing regularity.

    What Tony Finau had in the bag at Cadence Bank Houston Open

    Ball: Titleist Pro V1 Dot

    Driver: Ping G425 LST (Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70 TX), 9 degrees

    3-wood: Callaway Rogue ST Triple Diamond, 14 degrees

    Irons (3): Nike Vapor Fly Pro; (4-PW): Ping Blueprint

    Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 (50, 56 degrees); Titleist Vokey SM9 WedgeWorks (60 degrees)

    Putter: Ping PLD Anser 2