Healthy Tony Finau likes his Masters chances

Imagine what Tony Finau will do this year in the Masters Tournament now that the physical adversity he faced last year is behind him.

Finau was an inspirational story at the 82nd Masters because of what he overcame to not just tie for 10th place but to compete at all.

In his Masters debut, Finau suffered a gruesome left ankle injury on the eve of the tournament. It happened after he made a hole-in-one on the seventh hole of the Par-3 Contest and started sprinting toward the hole to retrieve the ball. On the way down the fairway, he made a misstep and went down in agony,

“I feel good (now),” Finau said in March. “It’s (Augusta National) a golf course I always look forward to no matter the state of my health or my game. It’s also good to have confidence after last year. I look forward to returning to Augusta this year, hopefully without a bad ankle.”

Despite doubt that he would be able to play in the first round, he was given the OK by a doctor that morning and shot 4-under-par 68.

“When the MRI test came back, they told me, ‘look, you have a couple torn ligaments but nothing major,’” he said. “You have pretty much a high ankle sprain, then I knew I could still play.”

But there was still a lot of work to do before he could play in the opening round. Fortunately, he had a late tee time.

“When I woke up Thursday morning I couldn’t put any weight on my left foot, and at that time is when I felt like this could be kind of a season-ender, if you will,” Finau said. “I think if it was any other golf tournament in any other scenario, I probably would have withdrawn,” Finau said. “I could barely walk, I could barely put any weight on my left foot. From that time, six hours later, I was supposed to tee it up. So a lot happened within that six hours trying to get myself ready with my trainer, my coach, everyone trying to figure out how are we going to adapt, what kind of technique changes do I need to make if this is actually going to happen. I’m happy I didn’t withdraw.”

To be able to fight through the pain and still shoot 68 i “was unbelievable. It was truly unbelievable,” he said.

He followed the 68 with 74-73-66 to crack the top 10.

“You can’t make this stuff up.” Finau said at the time, calling the week “pretty spectacular.”

He said he learned a lot about himself from the experience.

“I always feel like I’ve been tough and my tolerance for pain is pretty high,” he said at the Tour Championship in September. “I’ve played through some pain before in the mornings. But I definitely learned from myself that I’m a fighter and with my upbringing and the humble beginnings I grew up in, I feel like I always have that chip on my shoulder to compete and play hard and prove to myself that I can play at a high level.”

In the year since the Masters, Finau said questions about his ankle still come up.

“You just asked me about it,” he told a reporter at The Players Championship in March. “So it hasn’t stopped.”

He made sure he’d get a return trip to Augusta National thanks to his play on the back nine in the final round, when he shot 5-under-par 31. It featured six birdies in a row, starting at No. 12. It would have been seven in a row but his 12-foot birdie try on No. 18 came up an inch short.

“I didn’t know it until my caddie told me I had six in a row,” he said. “I was kind of in a zone. To be on the back nine at Augusta on a Sunday, to be playing some good golf, it doesn’t get much better.”

Finau started 13 shots off Patrick Reed’s lead. He had to wait hours after finishing before he learned he’d tied for 10th and earned an invitation back by finishing in the top 12.

The final-round 66 has stayed with Finau as he approaches his second Masters.

“It’s always a good thing. Anytime you can finish off a tournament that way, especially a major championship, I think you get good vibes for the following season,” he said. “That’s how I look at it. I look forward to returning back there and hopefully have an opportunity to win a green jacket.”