Kragthorpe: Not the usual Saturday showing for Utah’s Tony Finau in the majors

Augusta, Ga. • Kelepi Finau knew nothing about golf when his sons Tony and Gipper started playing the game as children. One of his first discoveries was that weekend golfers like to play in the mornings, leaving Rose Park and other Salt Lake City municipal courses practically vacant on Saturday afternoons.

And then he learned that the leaders in professional golf tournaments tee off in weekend rounds in the late afternoon, making that time slot a symbolic training ground for his young golfers as they grew in the game.

That background is why Tony Finau loved getting the opportunity to step onto Augusta National Golf Club’s No. 1 tee at 2 o’clock Georgia time, although he didn’t produce his usual Saturday performance when contending in a major championship. For the first time in the four occasions when he started the third round in the top 10 of a major, Finau fell out of the top 10.

He’s tied for 15^th in his Masters debut after shooting a 1-over-par-73 in a third round that required a comeback after he made four consecutive bogeys on the front nine. A bogey-free, stress-free back nine that featured two birdies and easily could have been even better left him encouraged, though.

“I battled back; I fought hard,” Finau said. “I hit it good on the back [nine], I really did. I was happy, just the way I finished.”

For the first time in the Masters, Finau blamed health issues for his struggles on the course. He sought treatment after the round for a sore left knee, the cumulative result of trying to avoid putting too much pressure on his injured ankle. The irony is that Finau wore high-top, basketball-style Nike shoes that gave him more cushion, making him feel “almost too good,” he said during a brief interview before heading to a therapy session.

Finau’s knee began causing him trouble after he made two very good swings – his second shot into the par-5 No. 2 that set up a birdie and a drive on the par-4 No. 3, where he made a par. His run of four bogeys started at the par-3 No. 4. In a five-hole stretch, he found himself in either a greenside bunker or a fairway bunker and bogeyed four of those holes.

Finau recovered nicely. He almost birdied his way around Amen Corner, just missing a great chance on No. 11 and then making short putts on the next two holes. He missed another birdie opportunity on the par-5 No. 15, where he could have made it back to even par for the round, but he liked the way he saved par on No. 18 and salvaged something from a difficult day.

Having started the round in a tie for eighth place, Finau couldn’t match the day’s scoring average of 71.2, and he lost more ground on a Saturday than ever before when contending in a major. He had responded well with a third-round 69 at Whistling Straits in the 2015 PGA Championship and a 72 at Royal Troon in the 2016 British Open. Finau posted a 74 at Chambers Bay in the 2015 U.S. Open, but that score dropped him only from a tie for fifth to a tie for ninth.

He’ll have a lot to play for in Sunday’s final round of the 2018 Masters. The top 12 finishers (plus ties) will receive invitations to return to Augusta National next April. Finau is only one stroke out of 12^th, but he’s part of a five-way tie for 15^th at 1 under par for the tournament. Another eight players are at 2 under, so it will be a battle to make the top 12.

Thanks to the excellent season he’s having, Finau certainly could get into the 2019 Masters via his position in either the PGA Tour’s 2017-18 FedEx Cup standings (as of mid-September) or the Official World Golf Ranking (as of Dec. 31). Yet he would rather drive out of Magnolia Lane on Sunday afternoon already knowing that he’s coming back.

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