Tony Finau Approaches Amen Corner In Solid Position At The Masters
Apr 7, 2022, 12:13 PM
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah’s Tony Finau has navigated the opening nine holes of The Masters smoothly, with the exception of one, nasty par 3.
Finau teed off alongside former Masters champion Adam Scott and world number one Scottie Scheffler. The opening tee shot for Finau missed the fairway to the left, his approach then missed the green short and to the right but a beautiful chip to four feet made for a reasonably simple par-saving putt.
Finau did not waste any time after the opening hole, on par 5 2nd he gave himself a look at the eagle after hitting a wonderful second shot to the middle of the green, he missed the eagle look by a foot and tapped in for a simple birdie.
A perfectly placed tee shot from Tony Finau. #themasters pic.twitter.com/VkBNlNn9O0
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 7, 2022
But disaster struck on the par 3 4th hole when he nearly hit his tee shot out of bounds. He was forced to chip back out onto the fairway with his second shot before knocking he should be par putt onto the green with his wedge. Sadly, Finau’s bogey putt ran by the outside lip. He would end up making a double bogey.
Finau did a nice job of not letting the breakdown get to him. He made three consecutive pars before capitalizing on the par 5 8th hole after missing a 12-foot eagle putt by one foot but settling for birdie to get back to even par.
Finally, on the ninth hole, Finau hit a wonderful approach shot from the pine straw but failed to capitalize again on a 5-foot birdie putt that he missed below the cup. Finau has struggled mightily over the course of his career with putts from five to eight feet, a range that most professional golfers capitalize on more often than not. Finau, on the other hand, has struggled.
Finau made the turn at even-par as he approached Amen Corner.
He is currently two shots behind the leaders Cameron Smith, Joaquín Niemann, Scottie Scheffler, and Charl Schwartzel.