Tony Finau Misses 3-Inch Putt In Costly Houston Open Gaffe

Tony Finau had a moment to forget during the third round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open when he missed a putt from less than three inches.

The player, who won the event in 2022, had been going along reasonably on Moving Day at Memorial Park Golf Course, with a couple of bogeys and an equal number of birdies as he tried to stay in touch heading into the closing holes of his round.

There was no sign of alarm as he approached the 15^th hole either, landing his tee shot confidently onto the green at the par 3, albeit leaving a tough birdie opportunity from almost 42 feet. Still, his first putt was decent enough, coming up short by just 3ft 8in to leave a likely par.

It didn’t work out that way. Finau first marginally misjudged his par putt, leaving him watching helplessly as it lipped out. Facing the prospect of a third bogey of the day, he casually stabbed at the next effort while holding the putter in just his right hand, leading to his ball barely moving, before he finally completed the hole in five after turning what had looked like a solid enough par into a costly double-bogey.

That dropped him back to three-under for the tournament at the same time Min Woo Lee was opening a sizeable lead to leave Finau's chances of claiming the title for the second time as good as over.

To Finau's credit, he didn’t let his gaffe get to him, responding with back-to-back birdies at the 16^th and 17^th before completing his round with a par to finish level for the day with a 70.

While Finau will likely spend at least some of his evening thinking about his error from less than three inches, he can take some consolation from the fact that he’s not the only high-profile player to make a similar mistake in recent years.

At the 2020 PGA Championship, Rickie Fowler whiffed a six-inch putt - a mistake that helped ensure he missed the cut. A year later, Brooks Koepka made a similar mistake at the same tournament.

More recently, in 2022, Jordan Spieth three-putted from three feet at the Valero Texas Open, while in the final round of the 2024 Dubai Invitational, Rory McIlroy did the same from just two feet before ultimately finishing runner-up, one shot behind Tommy Fleetwood.