Tony Finau’s Masters dream is about much more than playing through a freak injury

Tony Finau said his opening round 68 was a “miracle” given the pain from a nasty injury that went viral during the par-3 contest. But just getting here was an improbable, inspiring story.

Tony Finau turned down the one invite every golfer, from the best pros to high handicap scrubs, covets the most. He took a pass on playing Augusta National.

“I’ve had opportunities to play Augusta, whether it be from a caddie, a member, to go watch as a kid,” he told me. “I’ve had opportunities to step foot on the grounds and play Augusta and watch the Masters. But I always, since I was a kid, I always told myself I am never going to set foot there unless I am playing and a participant.”

So Finau took a pass, repeatedly, on of one of the toughest invites in golf and tickets that go for thousands of dollars every year. After years of playing mini tours and coming up from circumstances the opposite of tony and pristine Augusta National, it became official he’d earned his first spot in a Masters field last fall.

So he decided to make the trip to Augusta. Finau earned an invite to the 2018 Masters last September, when he was one of the final 30 players in the PGA Tour’s FedExCup Playoffs. He went to Augusta the day before Thanksgiving for the first time in his life and played with a member, his dad, and a close friend from Utah.

The big-hitting Samoan upheld his vow to never set foot on Augusta until he was officially in the field. But the part of actually playing as a participant hit a snag on Wednesday night at the Par-3 Contest, the tradition that’s supposed to be a Masters eve stress-reliever. It’s supposed to be harmless fun.

The problem for Finau, however, was he made a hole-in-one. Think about what you’d give up for an ace? What would you sacrifice or trade for a hole-in-one? Depending how desperate or avid a golfer you are, that could be a wide range of pain or money or dignity.

Finau’s ace in the par-3 contest nearly cost him his dream. Within a matter of seconds, he went from one of the highest moments you could have at Augusta to one of the most frightening. It was a startling swing, as Finau’s ankle popped out in a gruesome celebratory clip that immediately went viral all over the world. The news came Wednesday night that Finau had, in fact, dislocated his ankle, popped it back in, and was going through the necessary scans.

This was not the way it was supposed to go. “[The Masters] was a bucket list golf item for me,” he told me in February. “Not only just one to check off and play but also dreams of imagining myself walking up the 72nd hole and winning a green jacket. I actually have a real opportunity now. A dream has come true. It’s a dream realized.”

But instead of spending his Thursday morning preparing to tee it up in the most prestigious event of his life. Finau was getting an MRI. It was the second year in a row the Masters was cursed with some sort of freak injury news the night before we were to start the biggest event in the game. Last year, Dustin Johnson, the world No. 1, slipped on the stairs of his rental home and injured his back.

The irony is DJ and Finau are two of the most athletic players golf has ever seen. They would be the emblems of this new era of athlete that’s taken over pro golf. The old trope about DJ is he’s one of the few golfers who can dunk a basketball. Finau, who is Jabari Parker’s cousin, can also dunk flatfooted and had scholarship offers for hoops before turning pro in golf at age 17. Both DJ and Finau bomb the ball with ease, putting it out there well past 300 yards. DJ is arguably the greatest driver of all time and Finau currently leads the PGA Tour in driving distance with a stupid 321 yard average, a good three yards beyond No. 2 on the list (which is an enormous gap for that stat).

So it was cruel that these two flukey injuries could wipe out the Masters of two of the best brickhouse-built athletes the game has ever seen. DJ had to bail after warming up on Thursday last year. Finau got a clean MRI but was still unsure if he’d be able to play. Fortunately, he had a late tee time, warmed up, and decided to give it a go.

Then he went out and posted a damn near flawless 4-under 68 that will have him in second place after 18 holes. He told the ESPN broadcast that the pain was “excruciating” and a 10 out of 10 when the dislocation happened. He’d rolled his other ankle playing basketball but never the left foot. We’re talking about the plant leg of one of the most powerful, athletic swings in golf. Playing the first round seemed doubtful. Posting a score to take the lead seemed impossible.

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The loss of Finau from the field would have been cruel for so many reasons. It was, of course, his first time ever playing the Masters and he arrived this week as one of the few rookies to really have a chance to contend or play his way onto the leaderboard. But he was also breaking a new barrier becoming the first golfer of Tongan and Samoan descent to play the Masters.

“I am extremely proud to be of Tongan and Samoan descent,” he told me. “We are really proud of our culture and really, just being a minority. I think it’s a cool thing to have kids look up to me and to know that it doesn’t matter, your background or your ethnic background. If you have goals and dreams, you can achieve them. I am extremely proud to be Tongan and Samoan and to be the first on Tour and the first in the Masters is a cool thing.”

Finau was the kind of athlete that had to choose between sports, and Tiger Woods inspired him to go with golf. He wants to have a similar impact on kids watching him this week. “Hopefully I’m the first of many,” he said. “I know a lot of kids following in my footsteps, not only from my heritage, but there’s younger generations trying to follow in my footsteps so it’s really cool just to be the start of something pretty special for our culture.”

Now he’s in the Masters, going from an ace to a gruesome injury to near the lead and one of this 2018 edition’s biggest stories. His story is so much more than these last two days and it’s the kind of talent that should be shouted and celebrated all through golf. Finau’s family did not even have the money to afford paying for range balls. So instead of getting a bucket to hit some balls and learn to play, he cultivated his natural talent hitting off scraps of carpet into a mattress in the garage next to the family’s crowded three-bedroom duplex. He and his brother would go to the range to practice their short games, because that was the free part and you could bring your own golf balls (here’s a great feature you should read on his background).

After the round, Finau said this freak injury was just the latest step in what he feels like has been a life of “having his back up against the wall.” Fortunately for him, and fans of the game, he’s so damn talented and tough enough to play on a day that was mostly hyped for the guy who was really responsible for bringing him here in the first place.

“Watching the 97 Masters was a turning point in my life,” he said. “That was a time, watching Tiger — I was kind of torn between sports — but watching him do what he did there really inspired me to play golf and I think that was kind of the start of it all. I don’t really think I can put into words what it means to me to be playing the Masters.”

After a nasty injury made him a national headline, an opening round 68 is the start of a Finau story this week that means much more to so many others.