Tony Finau makes equipment history at the Masters

Ping Golf founder Karsten Solheim turned the putter category on its head when he introduced the Anser putter in 1966.

The heel-toe weighted cavity-back blade featured an offset hosel, making it easier for a golfer to square up the face at impact. To this day, Solheim’s design is still being used in some form or fashion by nearly every major equipment manufacturer.

Before this week, Tony Finau didn’t have much in common with Ping’s visionary, outside of the gear currently in his bag. But that officially changed Wednesday afternoon, at the Masters, with a small presentation on Ping’s Tour truck.

Finau can now add “putter designer” to his list of golf accomplishments after his name was included on a utility patent, along with Ping president and CEO John A. Solheim and principal designer Tony Serrano.

PING 2024 PLD Milled Anser 2D Custom Putter

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The Anser 2D model gained notoriety with Tony Finau’s success winning multiple times on tour. The slightly deeper, perimeter-weighted design features clean heel-toe ballasts to aid in alignment. Quality and precision A solid block of forged, 303 stainless steel requires more than four hours of milling time; precisely shaping every surface and radius to achieve the high quality and premium look expected in a precision-milled putter. Control and consistency A precision-milled face pattern, known as deep AMP (Aggressive Milling Pattern), is inspired by tour player feedback and provides the feel and speed control you need to deliver score-lowering consistency on the green.

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If you’ve ever watched Finau work on his putting, you’ll notice he occasionally putts with the toe of his wide-body Ping PLD Anser 2D blade from the rough. Using the toe of the putter is another way to dislodge the ball from the rough, which made Finau and Ping designers wonder if they could come up with a version for practice purposes.

Finau collaborated with Serrano on the design, and the mini PLD was born. The putter features a single white alignment line and the same face milling as Finau’s gamer.

Ping confirmed Finau’s creation isn’t likely something they’ll introduce to the masses; it was merely a project that allowed the design team to work directly with one of its high-profile staffers on a fun creation.

According to a Ping representative, Finau is the first Ping staffer to have their name added to a utility patent. It’s been a week of firsts for the 34-year-old, especially when you include the two Ping G430 LST drivers he’s playing at the Masters.

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Jonathan Wall

Golf.com Editor

Jonathan Wall is GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com’s Managing Editor for Equipment. Prior to joining the staff at the end of 2018, he spent 6 years covering equipment for the PGA Tour. He can be reached at jonathan.wall@golf.com.

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