BLAINE, Minn. — For the second week in a row, Tony Finau found himself atop the leaderboard of a tournament after his opening round. But his longtime caddie, Greg Bodine, was not with him Thursday.
Finau, locked in a four-way tie for first place at the 3M Open on Thursday (some players are still on the course), said he’d ended his relationship with Bodine after last week’s collapse at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio.
There, Finau had the outright lead after 18 holes and a slice of the lead after 36. But he shot a 78 in the final round and finished eighth. On Thursday, he joined Ryan Moore, Xin-Jun Zhang and Nick Watney with a 6-under 65 in the opening round of the PGA Tour’s only stop in Minnesota.
After the round, he praised his swing coach, Boyd Summerhays, who was on his bag.
“He didn’t do a lot of talking,” Finau said. “I told him just kind of hold the bag and play nicely and I’ll call him in when I need him. We have a nice dynamic, I think, and a great relationship to where no hard feelings no matter what.”
Finau said Summerhays is just a temporary caddie, though.
He’ll have to battle both the field and the elements the rest of the way. On Friday, temperatures are expected to reach the mid-90s at TPC Twin Cities. Scattered thunderstorms in the area could affect play on Saturday and Sunday.
But Finau said he felt comfortable on the course Thursday with his new, albeit temporary, caddie. His goal now is to finish what he started last week and eventually move forward.
“Yeah, I think me and my caddie (Bodine) and I had a great run,” he said. “We were together for six years and it’s a tough thing, you know. On a personal level I love the guy and on a business level, I felt it was time for a change in my situation and something just different. Unfortunately, our relationship business-wise has ended, but I look forward to getting somebody on the bag and making another great run.”