Phenom Preston Summerhays Catching The Attention Of Golfing World

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah native Preston Summerhays is the lone amateur in the field at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is golf’s next generation.

The 19-year-old is showcasing his true talents on one of golf’s greatest stages, despite opening the event at 3-over-par through 16 holes before darkness shut down the day’s play.

The stories that are being now made public is catching the attention of the golfing world.

Yesterday, a day prior to the opening round, Summerhays shared the history of his friendship with Tony Finau, otherwise known as “Uncle T” while answering questions in his media availability.

“I have known Tony for 10 years now, we have played hundreds of rounds together and yes I have beaten him, more than once,” Summerhays said while slightly chuckling to himself.

Meet Preston Summerhays, the teenager catching everyone's eye at the WM Phoenix Open: https://t.co/enC6Cju8l2 pic.twitter.com/okwoE5kr5G

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) February 10, 2022

To no surprise, Summerhays remembers the first time that he beat Finau.

“I remember it well, it was the final day of 2019 and I had a seven-foot putt to beat him. Right before the putt, he [Tony Finau] said to me “You know P, this putt is to say that you beat me for the first time in 2019 and not 2020.””

When Summerhays saw that putt fall he felt relief. “I had come close to beating him a couple of times but I just couldn’t close him out,” Summerhays admitted.

Another story emerged a day before the Phoenix Open began. Last year, Summerhays joined Pat Perez, Tony Finau, and world number one Jon Rahm at Silverleaf Country Club in Scottsdale to play a friendly round of golf with a competitive flair. Finau stole the show by shooting a course record 59 on the day but at the start of the round, it was Summerhays who was raising the eyebrows as Rahm shared with reporters on Wednesday.

“What people don’t know is that Preston was eight-under through nine that day. He’s definitely a very talented player. He’s only a freshman in college, right? Still has like his whole college career ahead of him.”

Summerhays hails from an incredibly talented golfing family. His father, Boyd, is the swing coach of Finau along with other professional PGA Tour members while his uncle Daniel Summerhays played on the PGA Tour for many, many years. His younger sister Grace is a future LPGA Champion while his younger brother Cameron is only starting his golfing expedition at the junior levels but looks on track to follow in the footsteps of his older siblings.