Tony Finau is fighting two lawsuits from former partners seeking millions

Golf

By means of Erich Richter

August 31, 2023 | 8:29 in the morning

Two men from Tony Finau’s past think they deserve nearly half of his PGA Tour wins.

The PGA Tour star is named in two lawsuits, with the former partners — who did not work together — seeking “repayment for loans and other work and services they say they provided to the family” from 2006- 09 worth about $1.1 million, according to Desert News.

Molonai Hola, a former business partner who sued in 2020, and businessman David Hunter, who filed a lawsuit the following year, are each seeking up to 20 percent of Finau’s career earnings.

The 33-year-old Finau – a respected figure in his home state of Utah, where he grew up from humble beginnings – has earned an estimated $50.3 million in his career, according to Spotrac.

His brother Gipper, who didn’t make the PGA Tour, was named in Hola’s lawsuit, along with his father, Gary.

“We never comment on legal matters…

He also added that there was “absurdity” in Finau’s comments on the charges.

Finau’s former agent, Dieter Esch, supported “Hola’s account of loans and other financial support” in an ESPN 700 radio appearance this month, Desert News reported.

Golf instructor David Leadbetter served as the Finau brothers’ coach and when he “and others complained to Hola” that Gary was interfering, the patriarch was released.

Hola – in an interview this month with Desert News that included his lawyers – claimed that he separated Finau’s father from ICON Sports Consultants, who, in turn, decided to dissolve The Finau Corp in 2009, in which Hola and his partner Steve Gasser own 20 percent.

The dissolution of the company is at the heart of both cases.

Hunter bought part of Gasser’s contract in 2016 from his estate — six years after Gasser died of sudden cardiac arrest during a 100-mile bicycle race.

In the initial complaint, Gary was said to have been on the payroll of ICON Sports Consultants for three years, thanks to Hola.

Hunter’s lawsuit was dismissed in November 2021 but returned to the Utah Court of Appeals and oral arguments were heard in the case this week.

“This thing is not over,” Hunter said last week. “It’s a wild and crazy story, but it’s worth telling.”

Meanwhile, two of Hola’s claims – breach of contract and tortious interference against Armstrong and Wasserman Media – were dismissed, but the unjust enrichment claim remained.

Hola’s lawsuit is expected to reach trial in three to six months.