Just when it appeared Utah’s Tony Finau had his putting problems figured out, the first round of the U.S. Open happened Thursday at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Finau three-putted a couple of times, after having not three-putted in more than 350 holes leading up to the tournament, according to NBC Sports, and settled for a 3-over 73 in the opening round. Finau was tied for 59th when he completed his round as part of the afternoon wave.
The West High graduate and former Salt Lake City and Lehi resident will start from the No. 10 tee Friday at 5:29 a.m. MDT with Justin Thomas and Viktor Hovland. Thomas shot 69 Thursday, Hovland 70, as the wind picked up in the afternoon and made scoring difficult.
Finau made just two birdies Thursday — on the par-5 eighth hole and the par-4 12th hole — and had five bogeys.
He also hurt himself with wayward tee shots, which were to blame for three of his five bogeys. He hit only three fairways on the front nine, and two on the back.
Finau, who was runner-up to Rory McIlroy in the Canadian Open last week, was not nearly as sharp at the venerable course in New England, a course he had not seen until this week.
It could have been worse, if not for a clutch 10-footer to save par on No. 11 and an even longer putt on No. 13.
He was even to that point, but failed to birdie the 14th hole, a 624-yard par-5 and then recorded his second three-putt of the day on No. 15. Bogeys on 16 and 18 left him at 3 over, and in danger of missing back-to-back cuts in the U.S. Open.
The Utahn was fifth in the Open in 2018, missed the cut in 2019 at Pebble Beach, tied for eighth in 2020, and missed the cut last year at Torrey Pines in San Diego.
