Regardless of what happens the rest of the year and beyond in his performances in golf’s majors, Utah’s Tony Finau will likely never forget what happened on the No. 16 green Friday at the Masters.
Sitting at 3-over par in the tournament and needing to make a 5-footer for birdie on that Par 3 hole after almost holing out his tee shot, Finau missed the tricky little putt and had to settle for a par.
With the wind taken out of his sails, the former Salt Lake City resident made a bogey on No. 17 and a par on No. 18 and finished at 4-over, missing the cut by two shots at Augusta National.
It was the first time Finau has missed the cut in eight appearances in the Masters.
England’s Justin Rose leads the tournament at -8 heading into the weekend, followed by Bryson DeChambeau at -7 and Rory McIlroy and Corey Conners at -6.
One of the other golfers with Utah ties in the field, Sandy resident and former BYU standout Mike Weir, also finished at +4 and missed the cut by two shots.
Weir made a 5-footer for birdie on No. 6 to get to +2 for the tournament but gave it back with a bogey on No. 9 and never got back inside the cut line.
Matt McCarty, who won the PGA Tour’s Black Desert Championship last October in St. George, is tied for fifth at -5 after firing a 68 on Friday.
So the 27-year-old McCarty, who grew up in Arizona and played collegiately at Santa Clara University, will be the only golfer with any Utah tie to watch over the weekend as Finau faltered for one of the rare times in the Masters.
Starting Friday at +3 after shooting a 75 Thursday, Finau opened his round with seven straight pars, then made a birdie on the Par-5 8th to get to 2-over and inside the cut line.
He barely missed making an eagle, as his green side chip almost fell.
However, he made a bogey on the 495-yard Par-4 10th to give it back, missing a tricky downhill 8-footer for par. Then he bogeyed No. 11 after missing the green to the right and putting from there 13 feet past the hole.
His par putt just slid past the hole.
Finau’s tee shot on the Par-3 12th was also close to the pin, but his 6-foot birdie putt lipped out. He failed to make up ground on 13 and 15, the Par 5s that are often swing holes at Augusta, then went to No. 16 needing to make something positive happen.
It didn’t, and the 35-year-old father of six will have to wait until next month’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, to make another attempt at winning his first major.
