PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – All Tony Finau could do after making a triple bogey on his second hole of the week was to laugh it off.
And after finishing with a 3-under 68, that mental approach paid off.
Finau, who birdied six of his final 12 holes to get back into red figures for the day, had two penalty shots on the par-4 second. He almost fell flat on his face after his third shot, he said with a smile, as the ball was above his feet and a mighty lash nearly caused him to miss the ball entirely.
“It was a seven,” said Finau, “but it was quite funny. I almost missed the golf ball on a real shot in a real tournament. I took (the score) pretty lightly.
“I knew it was really early in the day but mostly early in the tournament. If you’re going to make big mistakes like that, you’re going to want to do it early.”
Finau managed to settle into his round after that, making birdie on the very next hole. He started to play a little more consistently through the balance of the day and had a round-saver, he said, after chipping in for par on the ninth.
