How should Tony Finau spend $1.5 million Rocket Mortgage Classic prize? Golf fans have ideas

Looking for ways to beat the 84-degree heat at the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic, Sam Gibbons and Rachel Walter sat in the shade Sunday, just beyond the west-side bunkers of No. 10 at Detroit Golf Club with bottles of sunscreen and craft beer at the ready.

The couple, both in their late 20s, are avid golf fans. Gibbons was first, but as their relationship has blossomed since their days at Detroit Mercy, Walter quickly followed suit. They attended all four rounds of this year's tournament, in which Tony Finau shot a 65 on Sunday to win more than $1.5 million in prize money.

"I haven't thought about it," Finau, who also won $1.3 million at last weekend's 3M Open in Minnesota, said when asked how he'd spend the money. "(But, I have) five kids and a wife. I'm sure they'll know how."

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Detroit's PGA Tour stop awards payouts to golfers who place 75th or better. Its grand prize isn't the largest on Tour — Cameron Smith won $3.6 million in March's Players Championship  — but the money is enough to make any player want to win the whole thing.

Conversely, $1.5 million is an amount many fans at the tournament can only dream of. Still, Friday's winning Mega Millions lottery ticket, sold in Illinois, offered an estimated $1.28 billion, prompting some big-money dreams all weekend.

So, what would Rocket Mortgage Tournament fans do if they somehow lucked into $1.5 million? They had some ideas.

"I would buy a lake house in Charlevoix, right on Round Lake," said Gibbons, a Grand Rapids native. "I'd have a nice yacht. That would be my whole life. I'd also have good investment bankers making sure I can keep it all."

Walters, originally from Traverse City, would pay off her student loans, something Gibbons thought wasn't a bad idea once she mentioned it.

Even if they stumbled onto $1.5 million, Gibbons and Walter agreed they'd keep working their regular jobs — they need to win a lot more to quit those. Additionally, the couple would look to take more vacations and even visit more PGA Tour spots.

Further down No. 10, yards away from its tee box, Lou and Nancy Elliott stood waiting for Finau to head their way. The Farmington Hills couple has been together 41 years — married for 38 — and were visiting Detroit Golf Club for the first time.

The Elliotts spent most of their initial visit at the course's lounge, which overlooks the green on No. 16.

"We're probably the most boring people out here," Lou said. "But, (with $1.5 million)... tomorrow morning, I'd be at the Cadillac dealership, and I'd have a new car by noon."

While the couple isn't retired, the money would probably inspire them to do so. Nancy would look to remodel parts of their home and make sure their family enjoyed some of it, too. For the most part though, the Elliotts believe the money would probably be spent more creatively by someone else.

Clay Kraynack and Alex Friesen, two lifelong best friends and Windsor natives, briefly camped out toward the middle of No. 18 — and both had six $13 High Noon hard seltzers each, they estimated, by the time Finau birdied No. 7. The two said they'd immediately invest the $1.5 million and buy "something that produces cash flow" to get a head start on the rest of their lives.

"That way, we could live good forever," Kraynack, 24, said while turning to Friesen. "Right?"

"Yeah," Friesen, 25, answered. "We're very stressed about the future for ourselves. We're down to battle for the now to live in the future."

But after they've made their initial business decisions, that's when the luxury purchases flow. Kraynack would buy a Ferrari 488 Pista — listed starting price: $331,000 for a 2020 model. But Friesen? He'd become a business owner.

"I'd start a restaurant," Friesen said. "(One with) pizza and wine. It's the cheapest food, cheapest drink. It'd do very well in Detroit."

Nearby, by the clubhouse, sat Detroit natives Loni Moore, 26, and Jennell Grier, 36. Like Kraynack and Friesen, Moore and Grier would be a bit more adventurous with $1.5 million.

"The first I'm doing is booking a trip," Grier said. "We have a friend who's a travel agent, so I'd still probably find a good deal. ... I'm pretty open as far as where I would go, (but) I'd probably go wherever some elephants are. I just really like elephants."

Moore said she'd buy property in downtown Detroit. She and Grier also agreed they'd look to help family out — but that might be a little easier if they had won Friday's jackpot instead. 

If she were to go on vacation, elephants wouldn't be a priority, but if Grier wanted to go, she would. Just like Finau, these two are all about family.

"We'd figure out ways to give back," Grier said. "We want to help out."

Chandler Engelbrecht is a reporting intern at the Detroit Free Press and can be reached at CEngelbrecht@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @ctengelbrecht.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Spending Tony Finau's Rocket Mortgage Classic prize money