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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tony Finau's bid for a green jacket will start under par.
The Rose Park native carded a 1-under 71 in his first round at the Masters golf tournament Thursday at Augusta National, finishing tied for 21st on the leaderboard.
Finau was even-par through the first 12 holes before taking birdies on a pair of par-5s, the 510-yard 13th hole and the 530-yard 15th hole before wrapping up with a bogey on No. 17 to end the round one shot behind golfers like Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler and former Utah Championship winner Patton Kizzire.
Sandy resident and former BYU golfer Mike Weir, who won a green jacket in 2003, carded an even-par 72 to finish tied for 27th after Thursday’s opening round.
Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka are tied for the lead, having both shot 6-under 66. The duo are one shot ahead of Phil Mickelson, who sits a stroke ahead of Ian Poulter and Dustin Johnson to round out the top-five spots on the leaderboard.
Finau also good-naturedly poked fun at himself during Wednesday’s Par-3 contest, when he halted his round on the seventh hole to slip on his Nike-inspired golf "boot" designed to protect his ankle. No. 7 was the site of last year’s now-viral incident, where Finau picked up an injury celebrating a hole-in-one in the middle of the fairway.
Finau teed off Thursday morning alongside 2017 champion Sergio Garcia and recent British Open champ Henrik Stenson. He’ll join the same threesome Friday at 10:54 a.m. MDT.
