Struggles continue for Tony Finau after opening round 77 at Travelers
Tony Finau had a rough opening round of the 2021 Travelers Championship on Thursday when he recorded an opening-round score of 77 that was good for an eye-opening six-over-par round.
Tony started the 2021 season in fine fashion with four top 5 finishes in four of his first five starts, the culmination of which came when he was once again left empty-handed after a runner-up finish at the Genesis Invitational back in February. Finau fell short in a playoff again, this time to eventual winner Max Homa who hit the clutch shots required when it mattered most.
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The man who is seemingly ever-present in the big events has seen his results this year decline after such an excellent start and an argument could be made that it all stems from his inability to once more close the door back in February. Since the Genesis Finau has recorded just two top 10 finishes, one of which came after he backdoored a top 10 at last month’s PGA Championship when in truth he was never really in contention.
Still, there were high expectations for Tony at the U.S. Open last week at Torrey Pines, a course that he loves and had played so well at in the past, including when he had finished 2nd there at the Farmers in January. There were positive signs around Tony’s game going into last week as well after he had struck the ball so sweetly at the Memorial in his previous start, only to be let down by the putter. Combine all of that with his excellent record in major’s and it became easy to understand why Finau was once more on everybody’s radar heading into the week.
The result was not pretty however as Finau did not only contend, he didn’t even manage to make the weekend, something that had not happened for Tony since the 2019 U.S. Open. Fast-forward to this week and Finau is still struggling to regain the magnificent form he was in to begin the year, at least through one round of this week’s Travelers.
Finau looked lost on Thursday
Tony began his first-round well with a birdie on his second hole but that was the only bright spot during his opening round. He went on to bogey his next two consecutive holes and then only managed a par on the lone Par 5 across the first nine, before adding another bogey to the card on the Par 3 8th. While others were taking advantage of the scorable conditions Finau looked lost and the back nine didn’t go any better for him as he carded two more bogey’s, one of which came at the short Par 4 15th hole where his struggles became ever apparent.
Next. 2021 U.S. Open: Winners and Losers from Torrey Pines. dark
A wayward drive was a perfect demonstration of his round, not only did he not give himself a chance for birdie by putting it in play on the less than 300-yard hole, he managed to put himself in a position where he was left scrambling just to make par, the result was another bogey. The round was topped off when another wayward drive on the 17th left Tony with a bunker shot that he mishit and sent rolling off the fairway into the water, he went on to double-bogey the Par 4 and signed off with an opening 77.
Finau will be anxious to turn things around with the Open Championship on the horizon, but it appears like there is still a lot of work that needs to be done before that can happen after Finau lost strokes in all facets with his game on a challenging Thursday.