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Kragthorpe: Tony Finau and Tiger Woods converge at Augusta National in the Salt Lake City native’s first Masters

Finau hopes his ankle, injured during a hole-in-one celebration, will allow him to tee off Thursday<br>

(Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Tiger Woods, left, and Phil Mickelson share a laugh on the 11th tee box while playing a practice round for the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., Tuesday, April 3, 2018.

Augusta, Ga. • Tiger Woods’ 12-stroke victory made the 1997 Masters a major event in sports history. His domination of the field at Augusta National Golf Club as an athletic, aggressive golfer and a person of color resonated around the world.

It hit home in the Rose Park neighborhood of Salt Lake City, where 7-year-old Tony Finau watched the telecast in awe.

“Tiger really inspired me to play,” Finau said recently. “Golf’s not that cool, if we’re being honest, for kids, especially growing up in Rose Park. Nobody played golf. It wasn’t that cool. But something struck a chord with me when I saw him play.”

Golf has taken Finau to Augusta National 21 years later. His debut coincides with Woods’ return to the Masters for the first time in three years. The convergence is meaningful to Finau after all those years when he would rewatch the VHS tape of Woods’ landmark victory.

Thanks to Tiger, “The Masters and Augusta were a special place for me from the start — kind of why I picked up the game,” said Finau, who’s scheduled to tee off at 10:43 a.m. MDT Thursday with Bernhard Langer and Yuta Ikeda.

Finau already has earned a crystal vase for his first appearance at Augusta National, but it may become a costly prize. His running, backpedaling celebration of a hole-in-one during Wednesday’s Par 3 Contest resulted in an injury to his left ankle that required further examination and makes him questionable for the opening round.

Missing his Masters debut would be ironic for Finau, considering all that Woods, who once inspired him, has gone through to get back here.

Tiger is 42 now, rebuilding his game after a series of injuries and showing signs of playing well again. Beyond that, he’s recognizing his influence on the next generation of PGA Tour players including Finau, who keep talking about their childhood memories of him.

“I’m still getting used to that part of it because I don’t feel like it’s been that long that I’ve been out here and competing and playing,” Woods said.

And then there are even younger players who caught Tiger only at the end of his dominance in 2008, when he won the U.S. Open. “All of those kids … some of their first memories are of when I won my last major championship. That’s what’s crazy.”

What’s even more interesting is how Woods’ personality has changed in this phase of his life and how he’s being embraced by the other players. Phil Mickelson was so stunned by his own reaction to Tiger’s recent resurgence that he figured he was in “a different time continuum,” he said. “And I find that I want him to play well, and I’m excited to see him play well.”

After they played a practice round together Tuesday, Mickelson said, “I just know that he’s very easy to be around, and I enjoy our time together. We laugh, we tell stories, we’re both self-deprecating, and yet we can both throw in a little jab here and there. And we just have fun together.”

Yet something about the Masters evokes good stuff nearly every April, and Tiger’s comeback would be another in the series of big stories at Augusta National. Finau would love to play himself into the weekend’s mix, joining the conversation about the golfer who got him into the game.

MASTERS ODDS <br>Rory McIlroy • 9-1 <br>Tiger Woods • 9-1 <br>Justin Thomas • 10-1 <br>Dustin Johnson • 12-1 <br>Jordan Spieth • 12-1 <br>Justin Rose • 14-1 <br>Bubba Watson • 16-1 <br>Phil Mickelson • 16-1 <br>Jason Day • 18-1 <br>Jon Rahm • 20-1 <br>Rickie Fowler • 20-1 <br>Tony Finau • 90-1 <br>Source: OddsShark