Tony Finau Must Dial In Driver To Contend At The Masters This Week
Apr 4, 2022, 4:53 PM
Tony Finau of the United States plays his shot from the ninth tee during a practice round prior to the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on April 04, 2022 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
(Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah’s Tony Finau enters the 2022 Masters tournament with the hope of returning to form following a tumultuous start to the 2021/22 PGA Tour season.
To date, Finau has played in 11 tournaments where he has made the cut on 7 occasions while missing the cut on 4. Of the 7 cuts that he has made, Finau has uncharacteristically only finished in the top 25 once.
Finau’s Masters History
However, Finau’s history at Augusta National speaks for itself. In the four Masters tournaments played, Finau has made the cut every start while also adding top 10 finishes in three of the four starts. Finau is a fan of Augusta National Golf Course. He was also a member of the final group alongside Tiger Woods and Francesco Molinari in 2019 when Woods won his fifth Green Jacket.
Cool clip comparing the swings of Jon Rahm and Tony Finau on the range this morning. Swings are looking pure! 🌸😍⛳️ #GCQuadSquad #MastersWeek pic.twitter.com/uinQpFkQ1E
— Foresight Sports (@ForesightSports) April 4, 2022
The key to Finau’s success at The Masters has occurred when he finds the fairway off the tee. In 2021, Finau made par or better in 94% of the holes when his tee shot found the fairway. Furthermore, when Finau finds the fairway he provides himself with a greater opportunity of hitting the green in regulation. Again, in 2021 when Finau missed the green in regulation he only made par or better on 11% of the time.
RELATED STORIES
It sounds simple, but Finau must dial in his driver and woods off the tee to subsequently put himself in the best position to hit the green. If Finau can find the short grass and throw darts with his irons and wedges then he will inevitably be in contention, once again, at Augusta National.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
The numbers this season are far from convincing for Finau who ranks 187th on Tour in driving accuracy averaging just 52.44% of fairways hit. However, Finau has proven to be very consistent with his irons and wedges regardless of his lie as he has hit 70.31% of greens in regulation, good enough for 26th on Tour, despite his inaccurate driving numbers.
Augusta National Golf Course is a different beast, however. Pine straw lines the fairways at Augusta National. When players miss the fairway at Augusta they are frequently forced to chip out from the uneven and unpredictable pine straw.
According to Golfcare.co.uk, Masters champions of the past hit an average of 79% of fairways while adding 68% of greens in regulation.
Tee times and pairings have not yet been announced ahead of this week’s Masters Tournament.
