Why Tony Finau is playing two drivers at the Masters

Tony Finau averages more than 300 yards off of the tee, but we all know he has more in the tank. He prefers to play a fade off of the tee to give him increased control.

At Augusta National, however, an effective draw can offer an advantage on several holes. That’s why Finau is making the rare move of carrying two drivers this week.

The move comes after Finau conducted extensive testing in his last start, at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. He landed on a Ping G430 LST 9-degree driver with a new Mitsubishi Diamana GT 70TX shaft.

Now Finau has a second Ping G430 LST driver in his bag in order to help him on the right-to-left holes at Augusta National. The second driver, which will replace his 3-wood, will measure about the length of his 3-wood and has 10.5 degrees of loft, according to Ping Tour rep Kenton Oates.

“Tony Finau, most likely, will be playing two G430 LST drivers this week; his gamer, and a new shorter 10.5 (degree) option,” Oates told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday. “In the ramp-up towards the Masters, Tony and his team discussed options to optimize his performance off the tee. In discussing the tee shots around Augusta and second shots, Tony realized he would never hit 3-wood off the ground, minus maybe 8 if it was soft and into the wind.

“With that in mind, we felt it would be worth exploring a driver built to more 3-wood specs – shorter, more loft, etc. We build the driver in Houston, and Tony carried it to Augusta to test. Right away it was giving him the performance he was looking for, allowing him to hit a straighter shot off the tee, or even draw it easier than his gamer driver, along with the added forgiveness benefits of using a driver instead of a 3-wood. Tony potentially could use the little driver on Nos. 2, 7, 10, 14, 17 and 18, pending course and wind conditions.”

Since Finau’s stock driver swing is grooved for a cut shot, maybe it’s unrealistic that Finau will hit big sweeping draws with the new, second driver option. But, according to Finau, it’s still a useful option, especially since he won’t need the 3-wood much this week.

“The (second) driver really goes straight, so there’s just no fade on it,” Finau told GolfWRX.com. “The draw holes out here, you don’t really have to turn it over, you just can’t hit a fade. But yeah, I’m going with two drivers.”

Read more about Finau’s latest gamer driver change at the 2024 Texas Children’s Open in Houston.