Tony Finau finds long drives work just fine at Colonial

Tony Finau, the longest driver on the PGA Tour this season, has high praise for Colonial Country Club.

Finau’s 3-under 67 in Friday’s 5 1/2 -hour rain-delayed second round of the Dean & DeLuca Invitational had him comfortably in contention at 5-under 135.

“That’s the great thing about the golf course,” said Finau, who averages a tour-best 311.1 yards on drives. “It’s good for long hitters and good for short hitters.”

Most tour layouts are closer to 7,500 yards, while Colonial is just over 7,200. Finau, whose Tour-measured club head speed is 124 mph, uses that power to launch balls past bunkers that stymie most of his competitors.

“A lot of the flies on the bunkers are about 300, 310 yards, so it gives me the option to maybe hit over them if I wanted to and advance my ball up the fairway and play aggressive,” he said. “I think it’s a world-class golf course for that reason.”

Finau’s longest drive this season is 370 yards. The PGA Tour measures driving distance on two holes each round. In Finau’s case, that’s 102 drives that have traveled 31,735 yards.

“I like the golf course, and like the way I’ve played it so far this tournament,” said Finau, who has used a driver on 21 of 28 possible holes. “I had some nice par-saving putts I felt like were key for my round, just keeping the momentum. I like the way I’ve played the first two days.

“The golf course is in great shape for how much rain it received. It drains really well. I was actually surprised on some of the greens, how firm they’re already starting to get and how fast the greens were. It was nice to see that the course wasn’t extremely wet.”

Finau, from Lehi, Utah, is one of 11 first-time winners on the Tour this season. He won the Puerto Rico Open in March, and is 36th in the FedEx Cup standings.

“I think I just have more confidence coming down the stretch before and finishing the deal in a PGA Tour event,” he said. “It just gives me that extra confidence, but it’s 36 holes to go.”

Finau, 26, who joined the Tour last season after moving up from the Web.com Tour, finished in a tie for 19th at last year’s Colonial.

“The second time around is not easier, but you have more experience,” he said. “So I think I’ve been able to use the experience I have from last year so far this week.”

This story was originally published May 27, 2016 at 9:20 PM with the headline "Tony Finau finds long drives work just fine at Colonial."