Tony Finau Eliminated From Weekend At WGC Match Play After Late Collapse Against Will Zalatoris
Mar 25, 2021, 2:16 PM
Tony Finau of the United States and Will Zalatoris of the United States prepare for their putts on the second green during the second round of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club on March 25, 2021 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – After losing ugly yesterday to Dylan Frittelli, Tony Finau was in a must-win situation today against Will Zalatoris. He was up one with one hole to play but failed to close.
Finau took the lead on the seventh hole and never looked back until 18. He went two up following the 10th hole but Zalatoris crawled back with a win on the 11th. Finau would win the 12th to go back up two but Zalatoris answered again.
Wednesday's breakdown of the 288-yard par-4 13th hole @DellMatchPlay:
Eagles: 1
Birdies: 15
Pars: 31
Bogeys: 10
Double bogeys: 1 pic.twitter.com/rlWIBnYDH9— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 25, 2021
Despite hitting the ball out of bounds on 17, Finau made a 4-foot putt for bogey to halve the hole after Zalatoris found himself pinned up against the lip of the greenside bunker off the tee.
18th Hole Heartache
Finau made another mistake on 18 after driving the ball into the right rough, he was faced with tree trouble and subsequently failed to hit the 18th green in regulation. Rather, he clipped the tree while attempting to hit a high 60-degree wedge up and over the impending tree.
Zalatoris drove the ball down the right of the fairway on 18 and spun a wedge to within 15 feet of the hole. Finau, however, hit his third shot low of the hole and was left with 10 feet for par.
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Zalatoris took two putts and tapped in for par. Finau was left with a must-make 10 footer to secure the victory.
Finau missed his par putt by an inch to the left of the hole and was eliminated from the weekend. The match was halved.
Tony and Will finish the match at AS, and each receive half a point
— Tony Finau Tracker (@tracker_tony) March 25, 2021
One More Match
Finau will take on Jason Kokrak tomorrow, who remains undefeated through two rounds of golf. However, even if Finau were to beat Kokrak, he would not have enough points to qualify for the weekend.
Currently, Fritelli leads Group 12 on 2 points. Kokrak is in second on 1 point and Finau and Zalatoris are tied in third and fourth place respectively on 0.5 points.
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