GOLF.AI • Sep 18, 2026

Finau's Putter Gamble Ends in Disaster

Tony Finau's season was on the line at the Biltmore Championship Asheville. Sitting precariously at 98th in the FedExCup standings, he needed a strong performance to secure his PGA Tour card for 2027. Instead of sticking with what got him there, Finau made a desperate, last-ditch gamble on a radical equipment change.

He arrived at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove debuting a bizarre, experimental "hockey-stick-style" putter grip from Caliber Golf. The unique, square grip, invented by Tim Wright, was fitted onto a custom Ping putter. Finau had personally reached out to Wright after seeing the device, initially brimming with confidence and asking, "Tim, you gotta tell me, is this legal? Because it hasn't left my bag since I received it."

That initial excitement evaporated under tournament pressure. The Hail Mary backfired spectacularly. Finau stumbled through rounds of 78 and 71, missing the cut by a wide margin and watching his season's hopes crumble.

To compound the misery, his direct competitors on the bubble thrived. Billy Horschel (No. 100) and Lucas Glover (No. 101) both played solidly to make the weekend, capitalizing on Finau's collapse. Finau's high-risk, high-stakes experiment serves as a cautionary tale about making drastic changes when the pressure is at its peak.