Yahoo Sports Masters contender Tony Finau is more than just an ankle injury
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Now Tony Finau can start talking about something at Augusta besides the ankle.
You remember Finau’s ankle. At the Par 3 contest the day before last year’s Masters, Finau aced the 7th, and in his exuberance raced down the hill toward the flag. When he turned around to strut backwards, his golf shoes went out from under him, and he folded his left ankle under his leg. Then he popped the ankle back into place right there on the fairway, one of the more cringeworthy moments on a golf course.
He would go on to finish in a tie for 10th at last year’s Masters, which, all things considered, was a pretty damn impressive achievement. But the pain of what could have been gnawed at him.
Not anymore.
On Saturday, after two middling rounds of 71 and 70 to start the Masters, Finau stepped up and grabbed the course by the throat. He rode six birdies and an eagle to a round of 64 — one off the course record — putting him at -11 for the tournament and, briefly, in the lead.
He’ll go into Sunday’s final round two strokes back of Francesco Molinari.
“It felt great standing on the tee feeling fully healthy this year,” he said after his round Saturday. “Last year was awkward for me, just getting through those first couple rounds, just because the way I felt. Mentally I think it helped because it took a lot of the pressure off, but you never want to be in physical pain when you're playing at a high level. As well as I played last year, I didn't have a chance to really win.”
Raised in Salt Lake City by Tongan parents, Finau first caught sight of a golf tournament when he was 7 years old. That tournament just happened to be the 1997 Masters, where a kid named Tiger Woods scorched the entire field. Around that time, looking to get her boys out of the house, Finau’s mother forced him and his brother Gipper to choose a sport — golf or tennis — and, recalling Tiger, Tony went with golf.
“As a kid, I always wanted to compete against him,” Finau said. “I've dreamed of playing in the final group with him in a major championship.”
He’ll get the chance Sunday, as Finau will be paired with Molinari and Woods in what is a first-ever: threesome groupings in the final round of the Masters.
Finau also became a specialist in the Polynesian art of fire-knife dancing — this is all true, and if he wins the Masters you’re going to hear about it more than that ankle — and would put on exhibitions to gather enough money to travel to ever-farther and ever-more-prominent golf tournaments.
“My heritage is a huge part of who I am, my culture, being Tongan and Samoan,” Finau said. “And you know, I think that helps me. We're also very relaxed and we enjoy ourselves. I like to have a good time on the golf course, and not get too stressed out. I think some of those qualities can help you in a major championship when you're in contention.”
As a 12-year-old, Finau won the Junior World Championships — the same tournament won by Woods, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson — and that gave Finau the motivation he needed to keep pushing. He turned pro at age 17 and worked his way around the many outer-rim golf tours, circuits with names like the Gateway Tour and the Hooters Tour. He and Gipper took part in a reality show, Golf Channel’s Big Break, finishing second in 2009. Anything at all to keep playing.
His first big breakthrough came with a victory on the PGA Tour at the Puerto Rico Open in 2016. Two years later, he qualified to play in all four of the majors for the first time … which brings us back to the ankle. To “commemorate” the event, Finau and Nike teamed up to create a one-of-a-kind shoe: a Nike golf cleat with high-ankle straps.
“I felt like if you can't laugh at yourself in something like that, then I think you're doing it all wrong,” Finau said. “I thought it was quite funny after the fact, everything that happened, you know, celebrating a hole‑in‑one and ruining my ankle for a few months.”
At the media conference following his Saturday round, Finau spoke for about 20 minutes, and got three questions about the ankle and four about Woods ... a ratio which he seemed to understand and accept just fine.
He dismissed the idea that he would be overly intimidated by being in Woods’ group — in part because of the lessons of Woods himself.
“Tiger taught us how to compete,” he said. “Meaning, you shouldn't cheer anybody. We're the aftermath, if you will, of the Tiger effect. The way he dominated and watching him growing up, it was like he was scared of nobody. So I think a lot of us try to be like him and try to be that way to where nothing on the golf course can scare us.”
Augusta National already took a bite out of Finau; he’s in position to bite back. And by mid-afternoon Sunday, he might just have a green jacket to go with that green shoe.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.
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