[GoodLife]

Meet Tony Finau, and his dad Kelepi on the left



Tony is currently a high ranking player on the PGA Tour, but this isn't a golf story. It's a story about how minority immigrants can succeed in America, even against some very tough odds.

Tony was born in the USA, but his father Kelepi came here when he was 11 years old when his family of 10 moved here from Tonga. Remembers Kelepi, “Before we came here, my mother and father sat us down in Tonga and said look, this country is the greatest country in the world, it will offer you things others won’t, it will recognize your talent, it will recognize your hard work, but if we go there and you kids don’t have gratitude in your hearts for stepping foot in that country, I don’t think any of you will be successful. Good advice.

Tony was 7 years old, living in Utah, when he watched a 21 year old named Tiger decimate the field at Augusta. He had never watched a golf tournament before, but this one had him mesmerized. “I saw this kid who was the same color as me,” remembers Finau. “I saw him fist pumping, I saw him wearing the green jacket; he made the game look so cool. I looked at it and I’m like, man, maybe I can do that someday, maybe I can play in the Masters.”

You did Tony, I watched you dislocate your ankle celebrating a hole in one in the 2018 par three contest and then amazingly enough, you finished that Masters tied for 10th.

So how did Tony raise himself up to as high as #9 in the world golf rankings? After watching Tiger win, he told his dad he wanted to learn to play. Dad gulped because he knew golf was expensive and he made $35,000 per year as a baggage handler and had to support and feed a family of nine. But he bought Tony some used clubs at Salvation Army for 75 cents each and a used Golf My Way book by Nicklaus. Kelepi couldn't afford green fees or even a bucket of balls at the range, so he scrounged some balls from the neighbors and put a mattress up on the wall in their garage. Welcome to Finau CC.

The rest is history, Tony could have joined the numerous Tongan and Samoan gangs that prey on poorer neighborhoods in Salt Lake City, they recruit in grade schools there. But he stuck with his dream and made it happen against all odds.

Remarkable.

[Stu from NYC]

Good for him.

With hard work and sacrifice people can still be successful.

[GoodLife]

Originally Posted by Stuart Zaikov

Good for him.

With hard work and sacrifice people can still be successful.

Victimhood and "reparations" are for losers. Winners win because they believe in themselves and don't quit or make excuses.