Tony Finau has been searching for answers with the putter. On Friday night, he found one worth $1 million.
Finau drilled a long putt on his second attempt during a timeout at the Utah Jazz home opener, and ESPN personality Pat McAfee responded by pledging $1 million to the Tony Finau Foundation.
Not bad for a guy who's been recently joking about putting with a "hockey stick."
The Jazz rolled out the Qualtrics putting green at the Delta Center, where a fan typically gets a chance to putt for as much as $8,500. Instead, the Jazz surprised McAfee by bringing out Finau, the six-time PGA Tour winner and Utah native.
Finau missed his first attempt to the left. His second found the bottom of the cup. McAfee walked over, shook his hand and accepted the million-dollar
challenge.
Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) said he'd donate a million dollars to Tony Finau's charity if he made a putt at tonight's Jazz home opener.
— Travis Green (@ItsTravisGreen) October 24, 2026
Finau delivered. pic.twitter.com/pQM8uSaRop
Earlier this month, while prepping for the Bank of Utah Championship, Finau explained that he'd been experimenting with an unusually long putter grip that runs nearly down to the putter head.
"No secret, I'm using a hockey stick to putt with. If you saw me putt a couple weeks ago in North Carolina, I was trying out a kind of a hockey-stick-style putter, and I really liked it. So I'm going to stick with it," Finau said.
Finau put the "hockey stick" grip from Wisconsin-based Caliber Golf in his bag after the FedEx Cup playoff season, which he missed out on this season. For him, the new putting grip is all about alignment.
"I really liked the basic math of it, or basically what it teaches is everything is pointing to target, everything is lined up with the face," he said. "It's not a round grip. It's literally perfectly flat, but everything, the way you put your hands on it, it all faces the exact same angle as the putter face. I thought that was a really cool thing, and I just think it's easier to aim."
Finau will try just about anything at this point.
He's losing strokes to the field with the putter for the fourth consecutive season, an issue that's become even more glaring as his typically stellar ball-striking has slipped. Finau has just one top-30 finish in his last 15 starts and four top-25s all season. He failed to qualify for any of the four majors.
The good news is his job is secure for next season thanks to his multi-win seasons in 2022 and 2023.
"I've been working hard on my game, working hard on my body. I feel good about the direction that it's pointing. I'm sure the results will follow," Finau said.
Friday's putt was another memorable moment in a homecoming week for Finau, who grew up in Utah and remembered being the kid attending a Korn Ferry Tour event in Salt Lake City.
Tim Schmitt is the managing editor of Golfweek and the golf coordinator for the USA Today Network.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Tony Finau sinks million-dollar putt, earns $1M Pat McAfee donation to foundation
