Why did Tony Finau get into a legal lawsuit with old friend? Story explored

Tony Finau is currently being sued by old friends who claim they helped pay for the golfer's path to the PGA Tour and believe they may be entitled to a chunk of the millions he's earned so far. That total is over $43 million just from his career earnings on tour.

The crux of this dispute is over an alleged verbal agreement. The two sides allegedly agreed verbally to some sort of deal, though it's not written down. Oral agreements are binding like contracts are, but it's hard to prove that the two sides ever met and discussed the terms before officially agreeing to them.

With a paper trail, there's evidence. Juries and courts typically don't have enough proof to uphold an alleged oral agreement unless there's some sort of recording. That's where this dispute has landed.

Utah businessman Molonai Hola claimed that in 2006, he put $600,000 towards Finau’s career in return for 20 percent of his future earnings. Hola claims that Finau “agreed and understood” the terms according to Golf Digest, but there is no written agreement. Finau and his team have denied the deal's existence.

Initially, Hola's suit was thrown out because it had been too long. A different judge in Utah didn't throw it out, though. There's a chance Finau and Hola could go to trial over the concept of "unjust enrichment".

This implies that even if there was no handshake agreement, one party who is invested in by another should not unfairly benefit. The party who invested should stand to benefit as well.

This does have strict limits. A person can't claim that they should be benefiting if they gave someone a gift, which is what Finau's claim is. Hola is saying it wasn't a gift but an investment, which would entitle him to something. It's hard to prove one way or another, but it could go to trial to be proven.

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Tony Finau had two lawsuits levied against him

Tony Finau's issue with Molonai Hola is not the only legal issue that has pressed the pro golfer. In fact, there were two lawsuits including the one filed by Holai. David Hunter also sued for breach of a contract that the Finau family agreed to in 2007.

Tony Finau had two lawsuits (Source: Imagn)

The judge wrote in his decision to throw out the claim via Deseret:

“Based on the allegations as pleaded in his own complaint, the statute of limitations for each of Hunter’s claims began to run in 2009, and we see no basis for concluding that those statutes were tolled. Since Hunter did not file his suit until 2021, the district court correctly dismissed each of the claims.”

Hunter said they were "really disappointed over this latest ruling, but we are pressing forward." He says that they thought they were helping Tony Finau, and that they have a contract acknowledged by the golfer. Hunter said that they "legally weaseled their way out of it over a statute of limitations claim. He called it "totally shameful and disappointing.”