Tony Finau was facing two separate lawsuits but the Utah Court of Appeals ruled last Thursday to affirm the dismissal of one of them.
Finau, the defending champion at this week’s PGA Tour stop, the Mexico Open at Vidanta, was sued, along with his brother Gipper and father Kelepi, by David Hunter in 2021 for breach of contract. Hunter says he was owed money after investing in the Finau Corporation, which was created in 2007 but dissolved in 2009.
Finau, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour who has made more than $38 million in on-course winnings, won his first event in 2015. The TV station Fox 13 News reported that a judge in Provo, Utah’s 4th District Court ruled on the grounds that the statute of limitations for a breach-of-contract claim had run out by the time the suit was filed.
Meanwhile, another lawsuit filed by Molonai Hola will proceed, with a jury trial set for October 2024, the Deseret News reported in January. Hola’s suit alleges non-repayment of loans and other work and services provided to Finau and his family from 2006 to 2009, a similar time period, claiming “financial assistance alone totaled approximately six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000),” according to the original complaint. It specifically says that Hola made mortgage payments on a home in Salt Lake City, paid for medical insurance and medical bills, paid golf-related travel expenses for the brothers, including tournament fees and for caddies and equipment, and for golf apparel.”
An earlier claim from Hola was thrown out where he alleged breach of contract, stating that he was to receive 20 percent Finau’s earnings as a professional golfer. The original claim filed in 2020 asked for $16 million. Hola’s representative, Joshua S. Ostler, declined to specify a dollar amount they will seek at trial in October.
