Tony Finau defies injury to shoot 'miracle' 68 in Masters first round
Friday 6 April 2018 01:47, UK
Tony Finau felt he had performed a "miracle" as he defied injury to shoot a four-under 68 on his Masters debut.
The 28-year-old American had a sleepless night after suffering a bizarre injury during the Par 3 contest at Augusta National on the eve of the tournament.
Finau badly twisted his left ankle as he celebrated a hole-in-one in the exhibition event and had to go to hospital for X-rays.
He was given the go-ahead to play and put himself firmly in contention, despite making a sticky start with a bogey at the opening hole.
The world No 34 was quickly back on track with a birdie at the second and further birdies at the fourth, eighth and ninth took him to three under at the turn.
Two more birdies at the 13th and 15th, either side of a bogey at the 14th, then elevated him to four under and into a share of second place.
"It was a freaky incident. Kind of a scary moment for me because I kind of twisted my ankle," Finau said about the events on Wednesday.
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"I was able to pop it back into place and to say it was a scary night is probably an understatement. So didn't sleep very much, thinking about how I was going to react when I woke up.
"Obviously from that point to where I stand today is nothing short of a miracle if you ask me.
"I couldn't put as much weight as I wanted to on it, but I tried not to think about it too much. Tried to let my mind take over. I'm obviously very happy with my round today."
