Salt Lake teen Finau wins State Am championship

In short, Tony was simply Finau-menal.

Summerhays' strategy was the same as he'd had all week. He hit mostly 3-woods from the tee to get in position to hit the green and make some putts.

The fact that he was consistently outdriven by Finau by 50-plus yards didn't bother him. What bothered him was his poor putting.

"I had a problem with my distance control," he said. "The greens were really fast, and the pins were a lot tougher today."

Summerhays took a 2-up lead after eight holes, but Finau sank a 40-footer at No. 9, which he said later, "gave me a lot of confidence." Summerhays didn't win another hole in the morning round as Finau birdied 10, 12, 17 and 18.

In the afternoon, Summerhays won No. 2 with a birdie, but Finau hit his tee shot at the par-3 No. 8 hole within seven feet and sank the putt.

That was a key to the match, Summerhays said later. "His birdie at No. 8 was awesome. The pin was way back on that hole."

Finau gave a hole back at 9 when he hit his tee shot into the water but won 11 and 12 to go 4-up.

That's when a cloudburst hit the golf course, and Finau, bothered a bit by wet grips, made three straight bogeys. However, Summerhays could only take advantage of one hole, No. 15, where he made a par after hitting into a bunker.

"He bogeyed, but I couldn't par 13 and 14," Summerhays said. "I could have made the match interesting with the weather conditions like they were."

While Summerhays had his usual large following, including his father, Lynn, as his caddy, Finau also had a large contingent of family and friends. He gave a lot of credit for his fine putting to his caddy and uncle, Toa Afo.

Finau has a busy schedule the rest of the summer with Junior World this week in San Diego and the Westfield Junior in Ohio in August. By winning the State Am, Finau qualified for a spot in the Pacific Coast Amateur in San Francisco later this month, and he and his family were checking their schedules to see if he can fit it in.

Summerhays is off to the Pacific Northwest Amateur in Vancouver today, and he'll try to qualify for August's U.S. Amateur and play in the Pacific Coast Amateur, perhaps with Finau. He'll try for his third State Am title again next summer, where he'll find Finau standing in his way again.

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