Tony Finau finishes Masters at even par
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tony Finau played his most consistent round of the week Sunday, but it didn’t move him up the final leaderboard at the Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
Finau finished with an even-par 72 Sunday afternoon, which left him in a tie for 26th place at even for the tournament, 12 strokes behind winner Jon Rahm.
Finau said he enjoyed a memorable week having several family members present, but added, “The performance part was very forgettable.”
The Salt Lake native began the final round in a tie for 25th place at even-par 216 after playing his final six holes of his third round early Sunday morning because of rain delays the previous two days.
He was even par with a bogey and a birdie, and although he was 11 behind then-leader Brooks Koepka to start the round, he was just five shots out of fifth place in the bunched-up field with a decent chance to move into the top 10.
However, he could never get it going in his afternoon 18, as he made just one birdie to go along with one bogey while making 16 pars.
Finau said he thought he hit a lot of good putts, but just didn’t see a lot of them drop. He had many birdie opportunities Sunday, but most were in the 10- to 20-foot range, and those didn’t fall.
For the week, Finau was 42nd in putting among the 54 golfers who made the cut.
In the fourth-round pairings, Finau was in the first group out on the front nine with Sahith Theegala, who ended up having one of the best final-day scores, a 5-under-par 67.
While Theegala received cheers for his birdies, Finau just kept plugging along with his pars. Finau got under par with a birdie at No. 2, sinking a four-foot putt, but it turned out to be his only birdie of the final round.
At the Par 3 4th, he hit his tee shot short of the right bunker and made a brilliant chip to within five feet. However, his downhill putt slid by and he took a bogey.
From there it was pars all the rest of the way.
Finau finished the week 20th in driving distance at 299.8 and 13th in greens in regulation, but was just 40th in scrambling.
Augusta National is one of Finau’s favorite courses and he’s always played well here since his first appearance in 2018. He’s never failed to make the cut and has three top 10s to his credit, including a tie for fifth in 2019 and two T-10 finishes, in 2018 and 2021.
He also finished in a tie for 35th in 2022 and a tie for 38th in 2020 and now has a tie for 26th, which earned him $147,000.
After breaking through with three victories in the last eight months, Finau’s next big goal has been to win a major championship.
He’ll have three more chances over the next three months, at the PGA Tournament next month in Rochester, New York, at the U.S. Open in June at the L.A. Country Club and at The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in July.
This week he’ll compete in the $20 million RBC Heritage up the road in South Carolina.
Sandy’s MIke Weir, the 2003 Masters’ champ, was the other golfer in the tournament with Utah ties and he missed the cut by just one shot after rounds of 72 and 76.
