Hello, friends, and happy Monday from sunny New England. Also, happy May to my fellow golfers who refuse to tee it up in the cold. Our season officially starts now. I don’t have many updates for you all this week as I’m on a three-week stretch of not traveling for work, but I do have some good news, though, which is that my sister has (at long last!) taken an interest in playing golf.
I’m choosing to ignore her comment about coming for my job and will instead jump right into the past week in golf.
The friendship I didn’t know I needed
Did you know that Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are pals? Yeah, me too. What I wasn’t aware of until recently is just how close Tony Finau and Jon Rahm are. I started to figure it out when their families teed it up together in the Par-3 Contest at Augusta National last month. Tony’s wife, Layna, carried Kepa Cahill Rahm down one of the fairways as if he were one of her own children.
And here’s a photo of Rahm joining Finau for dinner on the road a few weeks ago when the rest of his family had to leave a tournament early.
I would’ve loved to eavesdrop in on whatever golf knowledge these two were dropping during their hang, because they’re both playing extremely well right now. It was so fun to watch the two of them tee it up alongside each other on Sunday at the Mexico Open, especially when they embraced on 18.
I took it upon myself to check out the Getty Images archives for more photos of these two, and it looks like they’ve been pals for a while.
Having a good time together over Milkshakes at the Memorial? I’m more of a solid ice cream gal, but bonding over any frozen treat is a sure sign of friendship in my book.
The Finau family
I’ve become, for lack of a better word, obsessed with the Finau family. I’m one of five siblings, so I’m not sure if it’s just the fact that I can relate to the whole “big family” thing or what, but I love how Layna gives us a glimpse into life on the road with her squad. It seems like they are always having a blast. I’ve never been nervous talking to Tony, but when I saw Layna at the Players I felt starstruck. I was in the presence of a TikTok and Netflix star! I knew I wanted to introduce myself if the chance presented itself, but all I mustered up the confidence to say was, “I love your TikToks!” I don’t regret it though, because look at these masterpieces she puts together.
What I also love about the Finaus is how relatable they seem. You know, besides the fact that Tony is a six-time PGA Tour winner. While Layna and the kids were waiting for Tony to finish putting on No. 18 on Sunday, Finau’s oldest, Jraice, was tuned into the Warriors game.
Four out of five kids appear to be paying attention, which I consider a huge win. The only thing that would make this moment come full circle would be to find out that one of Steph Curry’s kids was streaming the Mexico Open while courtside at the game.
After the win
The best Finau-family content came after Tony’s win in Mexico. The Finau kids took over the flash interview area while waiting for their dad, not knowing that the cameras and microphones were rolling.
Lucky for us, this absolute masterpiece was captured.
When I visited my dad at work as a kid, my “fun” consisted of connecting all of the paper clips together in the supply room or sitting in an empty conference room doing my homework while waiting to leave.
A few hours after Tony (and his kids) were done with interviews, they headed out to a local par-3 course to get some holes in. And dad was on the bag!
Good for the kids keeping him humble. Make him work! You know what they say: this afternoon’s birdies don’t win next week’s tournament, or something like that. Netflix gave us a glimpse into just how family-oriented the Finau family is, and this proves it — to head back out after a long week on the course because your kids want to shows some serious dedication and fatherly love. I just hope that as a caddie, Finau raked the bunkers, gave some good reads and didn’t lag too far behind.
Mrs. Morikawa’s swing
Five-time PGA Tour winner Collin Morikawa obviously has a great swing, but a lot of people don’t know that his wife, Kat, is quite a player as well. She played at Pepperdine University, and the happy couple posted some swing videos from their range session at the Summit Club in Las Vegas last week.
