Tony Finau's '#imnotleaving' a small but important victory for the PGA Tour
Despite rumors, Tony Finau apparently won't be joining LIV Golf in the wake of Jon Rahm's momentous defection.
This is where the PGA Tour is right now: A popular player's decision not to leave for LIV Golf is unexpectedly welcome news.
LIV Golf and its advocates, supporters, fans and fanboys have turned "Just wait until you see who's coming to LIV next!" into ongoing performance art. This includes Phil Mickelson, who spent much of his time at last month's LIV team championship in Miami hinting that he was "excited about who's coming next year." We've heard these kinds of big promises from LIV before, and all too often they turned out to be ... well, no offense to the players that joined, but they weren't Jon Rahm.
That is, until Jon Rahm joined LIV.
Whether Mickelson knew that Rahm was in the process of making the jump, or just doing some of his usual trolling/needling, doesn't really even matter. LIV bagged a massive score in Rahm, and that means it's now impossible to discount anything that LIV and its allies say as mere hype.
So when Tony Finau released his year-end thank you message on Instagram with a not-so-subtle reference to his 2024 status, there had to be at least some sighs of relief at PGA Tour HQ. "I’m excited for 2024 and looking forward to playing my 10th season on the PGA Tour!" he wrote, ending his message with #imnotleaving — apparently putting to rest any rumors that he would be leaving for LIV.
Those departure rumors, which also include at least one more top-25 player, basically had Finau already named as a member of Rahm's new LIV team. If that had happened — losing one of the more popular young players in the game — the cracks in the Tour's foundation would have grown even wider.
Finau has six PGA Tour wins, but hasn't had breakthrough success in majors; his best finish to date is third at the 2019 British Open. He's best-known for: 1) dislocating his ankle and then popping it back into place during a celebration at the par-3 competition before the 2018 Masters and 2) being the most memorable focus of the popular "Masters Update" from Memphis broadcaster Chris Vernon. ("Tony Finau! Where he be now?") Finau has always been one of the game's more affable players, and his segment with his entire family in the Netflix "Full Swing" series helped level up his popularity.
The Tour is in the final weeks of a self-imposed negotiating period with the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the financial backer of LIV Golf. The aim of the negotiations is to bring the two sides together to form a new alliance for professional golf going forward. But Rahm's signing is a clear shot across the bow from LIV, either to help kick-start negotiations or threaten the PGA Tour that LIV will continue even if the negotiations fail.
Worth noting: More than one player, starting with Rahm himself, has professed allegiance to the PGA Tour only to switch sides at a later date ... perhaps when LIV's offer sweetened by a few more million. So what's true right now might not be true in January ... or even next week. But at the moment, the PGA Tour is holding onto one of its own.
