U.S. Open 2024: This clip of 10-year-old Rory McIlroy and Tony Finau talking about their friendship will warm your cold heart

U.S. Open 2024: This clip of 10-year-old Rory McIlroy and Tony Finau talking about their friendship will warm your cold heart

There’s no shortage of great pairings at Pinehurst on Moving Day—Scottie Scheffler and Cam Young, Akshay Bhatia and Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton and Tom Kim. Then there’s Bryson and Ludvig, two of the most exciting golfers on the planet. But don’t sleep on Rory McIlroy and Tony Finau.

Part of the reason is obvious: McIlroy is hot on the heels of his elusive fifth major while Finau is still chasing his first. Both are fan favorites and a win for either on Sunday would provide a feel-good finish to the year’s penultimate major. But as this heartwarming clip of McIlroy and Finau from their junior golf days makes clear, their friendship goes back much, much further.

The PGA Tour also tweeted out a hilarious photo from back in the day, confirming the pair as the most oddly endearing duo since Tom and Jerry.

Amazing stuff. In the clip, McIlroy discusses staying with the Finau family one summer while Finau recalls seeing McIlroy at a tournament about a year later and giving him a bear hug right in the hotel lobby. The pair’s careers followed very different paths from there, but to see them reunited at Pinehurst with a shot to win the U.S. Open is what golf—and friendship—is all about.