PGA Tour star suffers gruesome injury celebrating hole-in-one at Augusta
Tony Finau has lived a charmed golfing life.
But on Wednesday, that dream became a nightmare, when an innocent celebration put his Masters aspirations in peril.
Finau is the first player of American-Somoan descent to play regularly on the PGA Tour, according to ESPN, and his story is inspiring. In 2009, Tony and his brother Gipper competed on the Golf Channel show “Big Break Disney,” finishing in second place. Then, in 2016, he won his first PGA Tour tournament, the Puerto Rico Open.
Last year, he pulled in a career-high $2.8 million in earnings, and has made $2.1 million so far in 2018.
And his solid performances of late led to his ever invite to the Masters.
A tradition unlike any other. @themasters week is here! 😀 pic.twitter.com/ajmoUczPmR
— Tony Finau Golf (@tonyfinaugolf) April 3, 2018
Finau made sure he was going to take advantage of all that Augusta has to offer, and decided to compete in the Par-3 contest.
But disaster struck on the seventh hole.
It started off fine, as Finau seemingly pushed his tee shot to the right shoulder of the green. The ball kept rolling left … and eventually made it into the cup. It was a hole-in-one, with his wife and four kids there to watch!
Caught up in the excitement, the 28-year old shuffled down the fairway backward. But then, he fell to the ground and seemed to be in a lot of pain.
https://twitter.com/AnthonyIrwinLA/status/981626948689444864
No, you don’t have to be a doctor to know why he was hurting … Finau had suffered a dislocated left ankle.
The golfer was able to pop it back into place (ouch!), and hobble back to the tee box, as noted by The Associated Press.
Finau later pulled out of the Par-3 contest, but it still looks as though he’ll participate in the real tournament, starting Thursday afternoon.
Indeed @tonyfinaugolf did dislocate his left ankle today during the Par 3 contest but immediately put it back in place. X-rays tonight revealed no breaks. Will have an MRI tomorrow morning. If results are positive and swelling is under control will try to play @TheMasters.
— Todd Lewis (@ToddLewisGC) April 5, 2018
Here’s hoping that Finau will be able to play to his potential this weekend.
Crazy day. Thanks for thoughts of concern, messages and prayers from all. I'm optimistic. https://t.co/m9y5T1a9Uy
— Tony Finau Golf (@tonyfinaugolf) April 5, 2018
And here’s hoping he takes it easy on all par-3s.
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