Tony Finau, who just finished a PGA Tour season where he won two titles and $5.8-million, faces lawsuits seeking 20% of his career earnings, according to a report on Thursday.
Former business associate Molonai Hola and Utah businessman David Hunter want repayment for loans and other work and services worth about $1.1-million they provided Finau’s family from 2006 to 2009, plus a chunk of his career income, according to the Utah-based Deseret News.
Hunter and Hola say they invested in Finau and his brother, Gipper, to get their start in professional golf.
While Hola’s lawsuit is nearly three years old and some claims have been dismissed, according to the report, Hunter’s lawsuit that was dismissed in 2021 was reinstated by the Utah Court of Appeals, which heard oral arguments in the case on Tuesday.
A three-judge panel has taken the matter under advisement and both sides await a decision.
“We never comment on matters of a legal nature,” Finau’s manager, Chris Armstrong, told the newspaper. “We have to just let the process run its course. we’re obviously very comfortable with the position where he sits.”
Finau (33) was born in Salt Lake City and won the 2006 Utah State Amateur title before turning professional at age 17.
Now ranked 20th in the world, Finau won his first PGA Tour title in Puerto Rico in 2016 and captured back-to-back titles in July 2022 at suburban Minneapolis and Detroit.
In the just-concluded 2022-23 campaign, Finau won last November’s Houston Open and the Mexico Open this past April for his fifth and sixth career PGA Tour triumphs.
For his career, Finau has won $37.379-million in PGA events. His 10 top-10 finishes in Majors include a best of third at the 2019 Open.
© Agence France-Presse
