AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tony Finau is scheduled to make his Masters debut on Thursday. Whether he tees it up at Augusta National is a different story.
During Wednesday's Par 3 Contest, the 28-year-old suffered a gruesome injury in celebration of a hole-in-one, seemingly dislocating his ankle when running and jumping toward the green. Finau appeared to pop it back into place and finished his track around the course, quelling reactions that he would be unable to compete in the tournament.
Unfortunately, those fears were confirmed by Golf Channel's Todd Lewis, who reports that Finau did dislocate his left ankle during the fall. While X-rays came back negative, Finau is set for an MRI on Thursday morning.
According to Lewis, if the results are positive and swelling is under control, Finau will try to play.
It's a tough break for Finau, who's enjoying a breakout campaign. He leads the tour in driving distance at 321 yards and enters the Masters ranked eighth in the FedEx Cup thanks to two second-place finishes this season.
Luckily for Finau, he won't be (relatively) pressed for time, as he's slotted to go off the first hole at 12:43 p.m. Late on Thursday he took to Twitter, thanking everyone for their concern and asserting he's optimistic about his chances. (UPDATE: The MRI came back positive. As long as he sees no further issue on the driving range, Finau should be able to play.)
It's the second straight year an injury on the eve of the Masters will be a storyline heading into the first day. Last year, Dustin Johnson injured his back in a staircase accident on the eve of the Masters and tried to give it a go. Johnson had won his three previous tournaments before Augusta, but the pain from the fall forced him to withdraw on Thursday morning.
The best of Golf Digest delivered daily
Sign UpWill be used in accordance with our PRIVACY POLICY