Tony Finau Finished 3rd in 2019 Golf Masters ^Featured

Augusta National Golf Club, August, Georgia (Sunday, April 14) – Tongan golfer, Tony Finau of Salt Lake City, Utah, came within 2 shots (277) of tying winner Tiger Woods (275), or winning with 3 better shots (274), at the 2019 Masters Golf Tournament today. Woods first-place purse paid $2,070,000 at -13 while Finau received $403,938 with three others who finished at -11.

The Masters is golf’s most prestigious tournament of each year, and Tony Finau was in the mix with good company. Tiger Woods wins with a 70, 68, 67, and 70 record in the four-day tournament. Tony Finau finishes with a 71, 70, 64, and 70 record.

Three golfers finished at -12 (276) received $858,687, but they were also American golfers except for Australian Jason Day who shared third place with Fony Finau at -13 (275). Three other American golfers tied for second place: Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele, and Brooks Koepka finished at -12 (276).

Tony Finau mixed with Tiger Woods in the same tee-off group through the final day and had real good chances of winning. However, the great Tiger Woods showed his mastery of the game escaping the water trap at the par 3, 12th hole. While Finau’s tee-shot fell short in the water trap (along with co-player Francesco Molinari, of Italy) Woods landed his tee-shot on the green.

“I know I was grinding hard trying to chase Francesco,” Woods said, “and then all of a sudden the leaderboard flipped [on the 12th hole] and there were a bunch of guys up there who had a chance to win,” he told golf journalist Garret Johnston.

Finau fought back with a birdie on the very next hole and got within three shots with two to play, and ended up tying his career-best finish in a major tournament. He admitted to Garret Johnson at the end although it was “not the ending I wanted,” Finau should feel great about his chances to win future tournaments.
“For me it was fun being a part of the action, and it's a lot of fun to be in that type of atmosphere,” Finau said. “It's what I practice for, what I play for, what I train for. My time is coming, I know it is. And I've just got to keep riding the storm.”

At the 18th hole Finau walked around to make his final shot, he realized he’s risen to become one of golf’s great players. He teamed with his golfing mentor – the Great Tiger Woods – who encouraged Finau to improve his game throughout his professional career. And today he had a chance to beat his mentor, but it Tiger Woods pulled out another master performance to teach his protégé a trick or two.

Tony Finau’s caddie (Greg Bodine) might have the best description of his boss’s future: “I think that Tony can win major championships. He didn’t hae much momentum coming into this week at the Masters this year and so we’ll use this as a kick start to the year.”