Tony got to the top with the help of a mattress!
It is one of the enduring images of 2018.
Tony Finau scoring a hole-in-one in the Par-3 contest ahead of The Masters, running backwards from the tee to celebrate the ace with his family looking on, rolling his ankle – then popping the dislocated bone back into place.
That he proceeded to play all four rounds in the tournaments itself, and finished joint 10th, while Patrick Reed was pulling on the Green Jacket, says much about how Finau’s year unfolded.
While he never entered the winner’s enclosure, the 29-yearold from Salt Lake City in Utah was a runner-up five times.
His consistent form earned Finau one of Jim Furyk’s captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National, where his play – including a 6 & 4 win over Tommy Fleetwood – was one of the few high points for the United States.
The coming year may well be when Finau finally hits the big time.
If so, he will pay thanks to his dad – and a mattress!
“Yeah, I learned how to play golf hitting balls into a mattress in a garage,” Finau revealed.
“It’s hard to get to the level of playing top professional golf, no matter what your upbringing is.
“I grew up with a lot of friends that were abused, who dealt with drugs, alcohol, gangs, single parents, no parents. So I know what it can be like.
“My dad wanted to keep us away from that.
“I didn’t come from a well-off family, so I did not have the opportunity to go to the golf course or have money for balls at the range.
“So my dad hung a mattress in our garage, and drew circles on it.
“My brother and I would practice at the same time, hitting balls against either side of the mattress.
“I used to hit balls into it around seven months of the year. You had to learn how to hit it solid, and you worked a lot on the mechanics.
“My dad knew if we were hitting it perfectly by the sound and trajectory into the mattress. He would tell us what we had done right or wrong, so we kind of went from there.
“But coming from such humble beginnings has touched me a lot, and we learned in a much different way from most people.
“Now I’m seen as something of a role model for some of the kids back where I grew up, and I love the chance to be able to tell them they can make it.
“They can believe it because I look like them, I talk like them and I came from exactly where they come from.
“I tell them that I was literally sitting in their chairs – and they look at me as though I’m Superman.”
At the beginning of the month, Lois Lane for Finau was ladies World No. 5, Lexi Thomson at Greg Norman’s QBE Shootout in Florida.
The pair finished seventh, and Thomson was impressed.
She said: “Tony is really back in the groove, and certainly takes advantage of his 6ft 4in frame from the tee because I was blown away by the distance he was driving the ball.
“I’m sure he is ready to add to his one US PGA Tour win – the Puerto Rico Open in 2016 – and will be back at the top of the pile next year.”
The man himself is philosophical.
He said: “I learned a long time ago that life goes on regardless, and the best plan is to get on with it.”
Like when you bust your ankle on the eve of The Masters!