x
Skip to main content
Golf Logo
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
Tony Finau’s infamous Masters injury was even worse than people realized
SHARE
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email
Golf Logo
  • News
    • Latest
      • News
      • Features
      • Shows
      • PGA Tour Schedule
    • Series
      • Tour Confidential
      • Monday Finish
      • Hot Mic
      • Rogers Report
    • Shows
      • The Scoop
      • Subpar
      • Seen & Heard
  • Instruction
    • Game Improvement
      • Driving
      • Approach Shots
      • Bunker Shots
      • Short Game
      • Putting
      • Rules
      • Fitness
    • Series
      • Top 100 Teachers
      • Rules Guy
      • The Etiquetteist
    • Shows
      • Warming Up
      • Play Smart
      • Short Game Chef
      • Pros Teaching Joes
  • Gear
    • Clubs
      • Drivers
      • Irons
      • Hybrids
      • Fairway Woods
      • Wedges
      • Putters
    • Other Gear
      • Balls
      • Shoes
      • Apparel
      • Golf Accessories
    • Series
      • ClubTest
      • Winner’s Bag
    • Shows
      • Fully Equipped
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • Travel
      • Course Finder
      • Courses
      • Resorts
    • Lifestyle
      • Accessories
      • Celebrities
      • Food
      • Style
      • Betting Advice
    • Shows
      • Super Secrets
      • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Shop
      • Clubs
      • Shafts
      • Training Aids
      • Balls
      • Bags
      • Technology
      • Apparel
      • Accessories
      • Our Picks
      • Shop All
    • Collections
      • The GOLF Collection
      • The Birdie Juice Collection
      • The Fully Equipped Collection
      • Shop All
  • Newsletters
    • Sign Up for GOLF’s Newsletters
      • Hot Mic
      • Monday Finish
      • Play Smart
      • Our Picks
      • Top Stories
      • Sign Up for All
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Features
    • Shows
    • PGA Tour Schedule
  • Instruction
    • All Instruction
    • Driving
    • Approach Shots
    • Bunker Shots
    • Short Game
    • Putting
    • Rules
    • Fitness
  • Gear
    • All Gear
    • Drivers
    • Irons
    • Hybrids
    • Fairway Woods
    • Wedges
    • Putters
    • Balls
    • Shoes
    • Apparel
    • Golf Accessories
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • All Travel
    • All Lifestyle
    • Course Finder
    • Courses
    • Resorts
    • Accessories
    • Celebrities
    • Food
    • Style
    • Betting Advice
  • Series
    • Tour Confidential
    • Monday Finish
    • Hot Mic
    • Rogers Report
    • Rules Guy
    • The Etiquetteist
    • ClubTest
    • Winner’s Bag
  • Shows
    • The Scoop
    • Subpar
    • Seen & Heard
    • Warming Up
    • Play Smart
    • Short Game Chef
    • Pros Teaching Joes
    • Fully Equipped
    • Super Secrets
    • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Clubs
    • Shafts
    • Training Aids
    • Balls
    • Bags
    • Technology
    • Apparel
    • Accessories
    • The GOLF Collection
    • The Birdie Juice Collection
    • The Fully Equipped Collection
  • Newsletters
    • Hot Mic
    • Monday Finish
    • Play Smart
    • Top Stories
    • Our Picks
    • Sign Up for All
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
InsideGolf

Over $140 of value - Just $39.99

InsideGOLF
Instruction

Tony Finau’s infamous Masters injury was even worse than people realized

By: Sean Zak
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Follow on Instagram
April 5, 2022
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email

This image is part of Masters history. Finau's top 10 that week adds some legendary context.

Getty Images

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Abnormal as Tony Finau’s shortened backswing may be, his finishing position matches that of most PGA Tour players. Fully committed, on the left side, he says. “To me, there’s no hanging back.” 

No, there’s no hanging back in anyone’s swing. Unless, of course, they’ve ruptured their ankle in a traumatic accident 24 hours prior.

We are, of course, talking about Finau’s 2018 Masters, where a fluke injury put his Augusta National debut in serious question. Talking with GOLF.com last month, it was much more than just a one-week alteration. It impacted his swing habits and abilities for an entire season on the PGA Tour. 

First, the injury itself. You probably remember it. Finau made an ace on the par-3 course at Augusta National, his entire family behind him on the tee box, suited up in caddie bibs. It was an incredible moment for a family man, and he took off running down the slope toward the hole, surrounded by raucous applause. For the faint of heart, you may want to avoid clicking play on the video below, but here’s what happened next:

Finau’s ankle appeared to dislocate and get stuck slightly out of place. Was it a subluxation, a dislocation, or some other wacky injury? It didn’t really matter. Finau’s first Masters was in serious jeopardy. 

Twenty-four hours, a rushed MRI and endless icing later, he somehow teed it up and finished in the top 10 that week. It’s a feat and moment that will forever define how the 2018 Masters will be remembered, but most of the golf world moved on after Patrick Reed won his green jacket. Finau didn’t quite have that luxury. 

“Normally, I’m not thinking about my belt buckle [position] or anything,” Finau said earlier this spring, talking about his swing. “I know that if I hit a good shot, I’m looking at the target with damn near 80 or 90 percent of my weight on my left foot.”

But that Masters week, Finau wasn’t capable of putting weight on his left foot much at all. He and his coach Boyd Summerhays were forced to rush out a game plan of adjustments to make a very black and blue and tender ankle as comfortable as possible. 

It started with an in-depth visit from his chiropractor to loosen up the ankle and break up as much scar tissue and swelling as they could. They visited the practice range earlier than normal on that Thursday and were lucky that Finau had secured an afternoon tee time. If he was scheduled to tee off in the morning, there was no chance, he says now, that he’d be able to play. 

“I had to open [up my left foot] and put the ball way back,” Finau said. “I had to hang back and hit it off my back foot.”

The tall, limber, long hitter normally has a somewhat open left foot, but Summerhays forced Finau to open it even further, focusing on the position of the big left toe to take pressure off the ankle joint at and following impact. As for the right foot, focus that post-swing weight on his right big toe. That’s the swing thought.

Finau also normally positions his ball centered off his chest bone for his iron shots, and slightly forward of that for driver. But now he had to put the ball back in his stance, behind his chest bone, and really swing up on the ball. Placing weight on that left foot, obviously, was not going to happen. In fact, Finau couldn’t place his typical 80 to 90 percent of his weight on his left foot for an entire year.

Approach Shots
Tony Finau
Tony Finau’s 6 best tips for developing a rock-solid irons game
By: Luke Kerr-Dineen , Sean Zak

What Finau had working to his benefit, Summerhays said, was an abnormal amount of forward shaft lean. “If he didn’t have [that], I don’t know if he could have done it,” Summerhays said.

Hanging back, with a backward ball position, coupled with a bunch of forward shaft lean resulted in a lot of “balloon balls,” as Summerhays put it. It worked for a warm week at Augusta National where the ball flies a long way. But the rest of the year would include plenty of long, soft golf courses. And making a change like that created habits in Finau’s injury-adjusted swing that the two of them spent months trying to work him out of. 

“It changed my footwork for a long time,” Finau added. “I think even to this day I have some tendencies …” 

One could imagine how much his driver spin rates were fluctuating as Finau’s comfort changed over weeks of intense therapy. But hitting out of bunkers? That was the worst. Finau was even more desperate to avoid the sand since bunker shots often demand putting holding weight on the front foot all the way through contact.

With three years of hindsight, looking back at the results, both Finau and Summerhays consider that week and the months that followed to be some of the best work of their nine-year career together.

“I finished in the top 10 [at Augusta]. I was in the final group at the U.S. Open two months later,” Finau said. He qualified for his first Ryder Cup, too.

“I look at that year and I’m like, ‘How did I even?’ I just look at it and I’m like, ‘That was amazing.’”

Latest In Instruction

16 hours ago

The mental habits that win major championships

1 day ago

A step-by-step guide to chip with your hybrid

2 days ago

5 keys for scoring from the rough

2 days ago

One simple key for hitting high, soft-landing bunker shots

Sean Zak

Golf.com Editor

Sean Zak is a writer at GOLF Magazine and just published his first book, which follows his travels in Scotland during the most pivotal summer in the game’s history.

  • Author Twitter Account
  • Author Instagram Account

Related Articles

Gear
Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott hold their green Trackmans.

Rory McIlroy just got golf's most exclusive launch monitor. Here's the backstory

By: Jack Hirsh
News
rory mcilroy marking his ball on the green

Rory McIlroy’s handmade ball markers have fascinating backstory

By: Alan Bastable
News
Rory McIlroy walks up to the Masters trophy after winning the 2025 Masters

Why 1 unseen part of Rory McIlroy's Masters celebration spoke to me

By: Josh Schrock
News
Kyle Lowry, NBA player for the Philadelphia 76ers, plays during the Pro-AM, prior to the Truist Championship

What's next for Rory McIlroy? This golf-crazed NBA champion has thoughts

By: Josh Schrock
News
Rory McIlroy

Why Rory McIlroy felt 'the worst' at this year’s Masters ... after a birdie

By: Nick Piastowski
News
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland looks on during the Pro Am event prior to the Truist Championship 2025

Was Rory McIlroy *destined* to win the Masters? Here’s how he sees it

By: Michael Bamberger
News
rory mcilroy speaks with jimmy fallon on the tonight show in green jacket

Rory McIlroy on Champions Dinner menu, Tiger's message, daughter's joke

By: James Colgan
News
A celebratory scene turned scary at the Chevron Championship.

Major golf gets weird, Caitlin Clark's Masters review | Monday Finish

By: Dylan Dethier
News
Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy shared a meaningful embrace after McIlroy's Masters win.

Why Rory McIlroy's Masters win was 'weirdest day ever' for Shane Lowry

By: Dylan Dethier
Sign up for GOLF's Newsletters
Get the latest news, the hottest instruction tips, new product releases, golf media insider reports and more delivered directly to your inbox. Choose your favorites now.
Sign Up
Categories
  • News
  • Instruction
  • Gear
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
Services
  • Masthead
  • GOLF Media Kit
  • GOLF Magazine Customer Service
  • TERMS OF SERVICE
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • Opt-out of Ads/Sharing
  • Your Privacy Choices
Social
  • facebook
  • x
  • instagram
  • youtube
Membership
InsideGOLF Logo
More than $140 Value for JUST $39.99

INCLUDES 12 SRIXON Z-STAR XV GOLF BALLS, 1 YR OF GOLF MAGAZINE, $20 FAIRWAY JOCKEY CREDIT - AND MUCH MORE!

LEARN MORE

© 2025 EB Golf Media LLC. An 8AM Golf Affiliated Brand. All Rights Reserved. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy a linked product, GOLF.COM may earn a fee. Pricing may vary.

Go to mobile version