PGA Tour pro recalls Tiger Woods’ ‘don’t f*** up’ comment after LIV star let him take the opening tee at Ryder Cup

PGA Tour professional Tony Finau recently recalled his favorite moment of his golf career from the 2018 Ryder Cup. The 2018 Ryder Cup was held at Le Golf National in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France.

In a recent YouTube video by Grant Horvat, the PGA Tour winner competed with the YouTuber in a stroke play match at Alpine Country Club in Highland, Utah. Horvat asked the 35-year-old golfer about his favorite moment in all the years of golf.

Finau recalled a moment from the 2018 Ryder Cup when Jim Furyk asked him and Brooks Koepka when they'd like to go as they were paired for the fourballs match. The duo decided to go first and Koepka insisted that he hit the opening tee shot for the away team in Paris. He further recalled Tiger Woods' comment and said (via Grant Horvat Golf on YouTube):

"So Tiger finds this out at the team meeting that night. Tiger looks at me and he's like, don't f--k it up, kid. That's all he said. That's all he said, bro. I get to the first tee, 10,000 people around." [44:56]

Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps were among the spectators. Finau said as he teed the ball up, the crowd went eerily silent and he had never experienced anything like it.

"Bro, I ended up hitting, it was 45 degrees at 730 in the morning. And I ended up hitting this three on like 290. I mean, it was just, it was smoked right down the middle like almost wetting the water through at the 300-yard mark. But I was just so hyped."

Finau further appreciated LIV Golfer Koepka and said that he has always been supportive. He called him a true friend and said:

"He'll always be my good graces. Not only for that, but like our wives are good friends. Yeah. And like, he's just a homie for that. Like you hear so much on the media, like how these guys are. Brooks is the man, you know, he's obviously a dog on the course. But yeah, Brooks, Brooks my man."

Koepka joined LIV Golf in 2022. LIV Golfers have been criticized for not being faithful to the PGA Tour. Finau and Koepka won the fourball match against Justin Rose and Jon Rahm by 1 up. However, Europe won the 2018 Ryder Cup by 17.5-10.5.

---

A look at Tony Finau's performance on the PGA Tour in 2024

Tony Finau has had a great 2024 season. In 22 starts on the PGA Tour, he has had five top-10 finishes. He tied for 23rd in the FedExCup standings.

Finau's best performances on the PGA Tour include a T2 at the Texas Children's Houston Open, a T3 at the US Open, a T6 at the Farmers Insurance Open, and a T8 at the Memorial tournament.

Let's look at Finau's performance in 2024:

2024 PGA TOUR Tournaments

• The Sentry: T38 (69-66-71-69, 275, -17)
• The American Express: T25 (68-67-67-67, 269, -19)
• Farmers Insurance Open: T6 (69-66-74-69, 278, -10)
• AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: T47 (72-72-67, 211, -5)
• The Genesis Invitational: T19 (70-67-70-71, 278, -6)
• Mexico Open at Vidanta: T13 (69-67-69-68, 273, -11)
• THE PLAYERS Championship: T45 (69-72-69-74, 284, -4)
• Valspar Championship: Missed Cut (72-75, 147, +5)
• Texas Children's Houston Open: T2 (69-62-72-66, 269, -11)
• Masters Tournament: T55 (71-78-72-80, 301, +13)
• RBC Heritage: T12 (70-69-69-65, 273, -11)
• Wells Fargo Championship: T52 (72-73-73-74, 292, +8)
• PGA Championship: T18 (65-69-69-70, 273, -11)
• Charles Schwab Challenge: T17 (66-69-68-75, 278, -2)
• the Memorial Tournament pres. by Workday: T8 (71-70-73-73, 287, -1)
• U.S. Open: T3 (68-69-72-67, 276, -4)
• Travelers Championship: T5 (65-67-64-66, 262, -18)
• The Open: Missed Cut (71-81, 152, +10)
• 3M Open: T12 (67-69-70-67, 273, -11)
• FedEx St. Jude Championship: T16 (69-66-68-69, 272, -8)
• BMW Championship: T13 (70-73-72-68, 283, -5)
• TOUR Championship: T23 (70-66-74-71, 281, -6)