Golf: What did Utah’s Tony Finau shoot in the opening round of the 88th Masters?
Tony Finau’s noteworthy accomplishment of making the cut at every Masters in which he’s played is in good shape after the former Utahn fired a 1-under-par 71 Thursday at the weather-delayed major championship at Augusta National Golf Club.
Teeing off about two and a half hours after he was scheduled to start due to a weather delay, Finau played a solid, but unspectacular, round of golf as the 88th Masters began in Georgia.
After making three birdies and two bogeys, then pars on his final five holes, Finau was tied for 14th place when he walked off the course, his seventh appearance in one golf’s marquee events.
That means the father of five who graduated from SLC’s West High is in excellent position to make the cut at Augusta for the seventh straight time.
Bryson DeChambeau shot a 7-under 65 and was the first-round leader when play was halted due to darkness; Finau was tied for 17th at the time.
Finau hit eight of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens in regulation; His average driving distance was 308 yards.
Before the round, a PGA Tour rep for Ping, Kenton Oates, said Finau was planning to use two Ping drivers in the tournament and not a 3-wood. Phil Mickelson won the green jacket in 2006 with that strategy, using one for shots that required draws and the other for fades.
Finau’s first tee shot wasn’t inspiring — his drive went into trees left of the fairway — but he recovered nicely and hit his approach to within 11 feet of the hole. He left his birdie putt short, however, and settled for a tap-in par.
He birdied the par-5 No. 2 hole by making an 8-footer, then missed chances to take it even deeper on holes 3 and 4. He nearly drove the green on the 350-yard par-4 third hole, but chipped to just 13 feet and missed the birdie putt. On No. 4, the gnarly 240-yard par-3, he hit his tee shot to within 10 feet but left his birdie putt short.
Then he bogeyed holes holes 5 and 7 to move to 1-over. Finau had a 9-foot putt for eagle on No. 8, but his attempt didn’t break as much as he planned and he had to settle for a tap-in birdie.
He made the turn at even-par 36, and added the third birdie of the day on the par-5 13th.
The other golfer in the field with Utah ties, Sandy resident Mike Weir, was at 1-over through 16 holes after missing a 10-footer for birdie on the par-3 16th hole. However, Weir made a bogey on the 18th hole and finished his round at 2-over 74 and in 54th place.
Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, which earned him a lifetime exemption into the tournament, made highlight reels when he chipped in on No. 8 for a birdie. However, the Canadian gave it back with a bogey on No. 9 and made the turn at 2-over 38.
