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What is it with American Ryder Cup players and dancing in public?
First, Phil Mickelson showed off his moves in that toe-curling ad for Mizzen+Main, the shirt brand whose apparel he wears on tour.
Now, Tony Finau has got in on the act.
Finau, 28, was last night named as US captain Jim Furyk’s fourth and final pick for this month’s match at Le Golf National, rounding out the 12-man States side that will look to win on European soil (and complete back-to-back wins) for the first time in a quarter of a century.
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He didn’t have much time to celebrate, though. He had to fly from Pennsylvania, where the BMW Championship was forced into a rain-delayed Monday finish, to Utah, where the fourth annual Tony Finau Foundation Luau & Golf Classic is taking place.
Still, judging by this video from he shared on Twitter, he managed to combine his hosting duties at Alpine Country Club with busting some moves to celebrate his Ryder Cup call-up.
A day you make the @RyderCupUSA team is a day you feel like dancing! Thanks to everyone who came out to support the @TonyFinauFoundation Luau. #inspiresomeone pic.twitter.com/imizdP6X7d
— Tony Finau Golf (@tonyfinaugolf) September 11, 2018
Finau’s dance was a celebration of his Polynesian heritage – his father, Kelepi, moved from Tonga to California when he was 12 and later met Tony’s Samoan mother, Vena.
To help raise money for Tony and his fellow tour pro brother Gipper to play in junior competitions, the Finau family would host luaus – traditional Hawaiian-style parties – with food and entertainment provided by them. Tony’s sisters would dance the hula, before Tony and Gipper would perform the Siva Tau, a traditional Samoan dance that is similar to the Haka performed by the New Zealand rugby union side before matches.
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Tony would also regularly perform his fire knife dance. As a child, he competed in the Junior World Championships of fire knife dancing, finishing third one year.
“It’s pretty much what it sounds like,” Finau told bunkered in 2016. “You’ve got a stick with knives on the end of them and you wrap towels around the knives, which you then set on fire. The idea is that you spin the flaming stick around to see who can do the best tricks.
“You could say it’s pretty dangerous. I would regularly cut and burn myself but I got really good at it.”
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