When looking at Tony Finau’s golf bag, some long-established Masters Tournament fans might be reminded of an edition 18 years ago. Back then, in 2006, Phil Mickelson won his second green jacket at Augusta National. And he did so with a special set of clubs. Like Finau this year, “Lefty” relied on two drivers back then.
The reason behind Tony Finau’s unusual bag at the Masters Tournament 2024
The explanation for this “double lotto” in Finau’s bag is relatively simple. During his tournament preparation, the American realised that he could only use his 3-wood on a single hole (hole 8) and set about looking for an alternative. The solution presented itself in the form of a second driver. In addition to the Ping G430 LST with 7.75 degrees of loft, Finau will be adding another Ping G430 LST to his bag for the Masters Tournament 2024, but this one has around 9 degrees of loft and a shaft that is three-quarters of an inch shorter. According to Ping, Finau can use it for his tee shot on five holes (holes 2, 7, 10, 14 and 17). The driver is also more forgiving than the comparable 3-wood and even with the higher loft, the long hitter still manages 300 yards or 275 metres.
Putter patent for Tony Finau
Although not in his tournament bag, Tony Finau now uses a specially designed putter for training rounds at home. Together with his equipment supplier Ping, Finau has designed a prototype that fulfils his special requirements. The American relies on his putter particularly for short shots from the first cut around the greens and turns it 90 degrees for these shots so that he catches the ball with the heel. The new putter is said to have a cube shape, placing the weight directly behind the golf ball. The patent, which was presented on Wednesday ahead of the Masters Tournament 2024, features Finau himself as well as Tony Serrano, Head of Putter Design at Ping, and CEO John A. Solheim.
The idea started from Finau using the toe of his putter to hit certain putts. Finau liked the feel and worked with Tony Serrano, PING Principal Design Engineer, and John A. Solheim, PING Executive Chairman, to design a #PLD prototype that delivered similar feel and allowed him to… pic.twitter.com/zLBaeQf1En
— PING GOLF (@PingTour) April 11, 2024
“When Tony turns his putter over and hits a putt with the toe, all the mass is directly behind the ball,” Serrano said. “So he came to us and said, ‘How can we make a putter that has some of these feelings and attributes and sounds that I get when I turn this putter over?’”