Earlier this week, Tony Finau trolled himself for his unfortunate ankle injury during last year’s Par-3 Contest. Fast forward three days, and Tony Finau is looking like a man on a mission at the Masters.
After posting rounds of 71-70 on Thursday and Friday, his chances of contending seemed unlikely. Though he was only four shots behind the leaders, a slew of big names stood between him and the leaderboard, including Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson.
But that narrative changed in the span of six holes on Saturday afternoon.
An iron to pin-high lead to a birdie on his opening hole to get him to four under par. Then, a tidy up-and-down from the greenside bunker on the par-5 2nd hole led to another birdie. A bombed drive and brilliant approach on No. 3 led to yet another birdie, bringing Finau to six under overall, three under on the day.
Two pars followed on Nos. 4 and 5, and then Finau drained an 18-footer on No. 6 to get to seven under overall. A par on 7 followed, and then on the par-5 8th, Finau nailed his approach to tap-in range yet again — this time for an eagle. In less than two hours, Finau went from four shots back to leading the Masters by one.
From 261 yards, @tonyfinaugolf hits his second shot on to 8 inches for an eagle on No. 8 that gives him the solo lead at 9-under par. #themasters pic.twitter.com/XKv0uUncZF
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 13, 2019
A par on the 9th brought his front nine total to six-under-par 30, which ties the front-side record shared by five other players: Johnny Miller, Greg Norman, K.J. Choi, Phil Mickelson and Gary Woodland.
Still achievable is the all-time Masters single-round record. If Finau could get to 10 under par on the day through the back nine to sign for a 62, he’ll leapfrog Nick Price, who shot 63 all the way back in 1986. You can follow the final round here.
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