The wonderful putting touch Tony Finau displayed last weekend in the Canadian Open didn’t accompany him across the border and into the U.S. Open.
The West High School graduate three-putted twice from manageable distances Thursday and failed to save par three other times from 8 or 10 feet away. He made two birdies, but three bogeys over the last four holes made him accept a 3-over-par 73 in the first round at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.
According to Finau’s on-and-off pattern in the U.S. Open, he’s due for another high finish this week. In his previous six appearances, he has alternated a top-15 performance with a missed cut. As of Friday morning, when he plays in the second round, Finau’s immediate goal will be just to avoid a second straight missed cut in the U.S Open.
The cut is projected to come at 5 over par, so Finau likely will need a 72 or something better to play the weekend rounds. He’ll tee off at 5:29 a.m. MDT, again playing in a featured pairing with Justin Thomas and Viktor Hovland.
Finau started the week with much bigger ambitions, having turned around a disappointing 2021-22 season on the PGA Tour with two runner-up showings and a tie for fourth place since May 1. He placed second to Rory McIlroy in the Canadian Open, closing with rounds of 62 and 64 as his putter got hot.
“This is big,” he said after his effort in Canada. “Any time you’re coming off a good, solid performance … it always gives you confidence.”
But the putting issues that held him back in the first half of the season resurfaced Thursday, when he had some trouble judging the speed of The Country Club’s greens. A great pitch from below the green on the par-5 No. 8 led to an easy birdie, and Finau also birdied the par-4 No. 12 after a big drive and a nice approach shot that spun back to 8 feet from the hole.
That got him back to even par, but then he three-putted for a bogey on the par-4 No. 15 and bogeyed the par-3 No. 16 after his tee shot found a bunker and he couldn’t make a par-saving putt. On the par-4 No. 18, Finau gouged a decent chip out of the greenside rough, but missed a 9-foot par putt.
Finau’s family spends the school year in Arizona and the summers in Utah. His son Jraice lost last week in the championship match of the Boys 10-under division of the Utah State Jr. Amateur in Park City. Jraice Finau had upset Nicklaus Miller, a grandson of Johnny Miller, in the semifinals.
