Utah’s Tony Finau is just inside the Masters cut line as he resumes Round 2

Putting problems cost Tony Finau a lot of ground Friday, so he chose to sleep on a 12-foot birdie attempt on the par-3 No. 12 at Augusta National Golf Club.

Finau is in the half of the field that has yet to complete the second round of the Masters, stemming from Thursday’s rain delay. Play will resume Saturday at 5:30 a.m. MST, then the 36-hole cut will be made and the third round will begin.

Finau, a West High School graduate, and Sandy resident Mike Weir have some work to do Saturday morning. Each player is 2 over par for the second round. Finau is 1 under for the tournament, tied for 45th place. Weir is 1 over through 27 holes, tied for 61st. The top 50 players (plus ties) will advance.

Teeing off in the mid-afternoon Friday in Georgia, Finau scrambled well enough to par the first three holes. But then he three-putted for bogeys on Nos. 4 and 7, while also bogeying the par-4 No. 5 after a drive into the left rough. He regrouped with a birdie on the par-5 No. 8.

In the twilight, rules officials gave players the option of finishing the hole or marking their spots and waiting until Saturday. After his birdie try on No. 12, Finau will hope to make up ground on two par-5s (Nos. 13 and 15), having made a birdie and eagle on those holes in Thursday’s first round.

Finau has finished in the top 10 in each of the last three major tournaments after missing the cut in the 2019 U.S. Open. In his two Masters appearances, he tied for 10th place in 2018 and fifth place last year.

The 50-year-old Weir is trying to make the cut at Augusta National for the first time since 2014. He was in good position early in Friday’s round, offsetting a bogey at No. 10 with a birdie on the par-4 No. 14. But after barely missing a birdie putt on No. 15, he three-putted on No. 16 and also bogeyed No. 18 after driving into the pine trees on the right side.

Weir will resume his round from the No. 1 fairway, after ending with a good drive Friday.

from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/2UsBudr