Tony Finau's career trajectory may be different from that of a prodigy, but he's winning golf's long game

Big Tone could catch David Duval with a major and a few more PGA Tour victories

"Perplexing" is one way to describe Tony Finau's career to date. He's gained a reputation for coming up short in important moments, but at the same time, he remains a major and a few more wins away from being ... David Duval.

Finau just beat the hottest player in the world, Jon Rahm, in the Mexico Open, flipping last year's result when Finau finished second to Rahm, whose victory at Vidanta kick-started an insane 12-month stretch.  

Finau has been on a bit of a heater of his own, though. Sunday's win marked the fourth in his last 19 starts worldwide, but it's also worth nothing that he's missed just one cut since last year's U.S. Open. He also has 11 top-15 finishes in that timespan. Since July 1, 2022, the four best players in the world are Rahm, Finau, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler in some order. They're the top four in strokes gained with a combined 15 tournament wins between them.