Tony Finau is wielding a rather unusual putter during the FedEx Cup Fall Series – and the American believes it might help save his season…
The alarm bells sounded long ago on the greens for Tony Finau.
This is the fourth consecutive season that Finau has lost strokes to his rivals in putting and that prolonged malaise has led the six-time PGA Tour winner to take drastic action.
“No secret, I’m using a hockey stick to putt with,” Finau told reporters ahead of the Bank of Utah Championship, the $6 million event in his home state, this week.
Indeed, Finau first put his new unusual new grip in place at last month’s Biltmore Championship, where he missed the cut. The unlikely move came after Tim Wright, the CEO of Wisconsin-based putter grip company Caliber, spotted Finau trialling an unorthodox grip on his broomstick-length putter during the Truist Championship.
Finau was using a Ping Scottsdale Tex Ally Blue Onset mallet at this stage, and Wright sent the American his exact model with the Caliber grip, which runs almost all the way down to the putter head.
It is a striking look as Finau addresses the ball, but with the grip entirely flat, he believes that he can benefit from having both his hands and the putter face pointing in the same direction towards the target.
“The way you put your hands on it, it all faces the exact same angle as the putter face,” he explained. “I thought that was a really cool thing, and I just think it’s easier to aim.
“I’ve always been really good from 20 to 25-plus feet throughout the history of my PGA Tour career, and then as I got closer to the hole, not as good. Aiming to me is the most important thing. The closer you get to the hole, the better you have to aim. You don’t have time to manipulate the face on a short putt. So it seems to help me aim better, and that’s why I put it in the bag.”
It seems Finau is going to be wielding the hockey stick in his bag for a little while yet – and he desperately needs the change to spark some kind of resurgence.
Finau did not play a single major in 2026 and entered the tournament at Black Desert Resort with only one top-30 finish in his last 30 starts. Despite sitting dangerously at 100th in the FedEx Cup rankings, Finau cannot lose his card as he has status for 2027 through his flurry of wins in 2022 and 2023.
But this unique approach around the greens is Finau’s latest eye-catching move as he attempts to become a competitive force once again.