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I saw it happen on my cell phone. A friend sent me the video in a text. On the eve of the Masters, Tony Finau sinks a hole-in-one during the Par 3 Challenge, runs down the course celebrating, then appears to snap his ankle in half.
More astonishingly, he bends down, pops the thing back into place, and begins to hug his children.
This is a golfer we’re talking about—a tough golfer.
There’s so much more to Tony’s story, though. Finau’s rise to top finisher in the Masters is one of sheer grit and determination. His dislocated ankle was not the first hurdle in his life. According to Ryan Lavner’s “Golf Digest” article, “Rising Son,” Tony’s father Kelepi bought the boy his first set of golf clubs at the Salvation Army: a 6-iron for 75 cents, a putter for $1, and a little red bag for 50 cents.
To fully understand Tony Finau, you need to understand two pivotal moments in his life. First off, his mother died in a car crash in 2011. In Lavner’s interview, Tony says, “She was the centerpiece, the cornerstone of our family. I had to dig down really deep inside, not just for my personal life but also my faith.” Secondly, Tony’s family is huge. He is one of seven kids. Lavner goes on to cite Finau’s longtime golf mentor, Mark Whetzel, as saying, “Tony’s dad put all of his chips in one basket, because he knew they had potential and an opportunity to help the family out.”
The Salvation Army set of golf clubs, the death of his mother, and the weight of an entire family—and then Tony makes it to the Masters—and dislocates his ankle.
The video is gruesome, but you need to watch it. Right now. Watch the hole-in-one, watch Tony take off down the course, watch as he backpedals, and then—snap—there goes the ankle.
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But this time, as you watch him go down to one knee, push his ankle back in, and stand, maybe you can understand why Tony reacted the way he did. He’d worked his whole life for that moment. It was almost as if he didn’t even consider staying down, like he didn’t have a choice.
In his book “Outliers”, Malcolm Gladwell argues extremely successful people almost always have certain traits and experiences in common. When it comes to opportunity, Gladwell says, “Opportunity only knocks for some, and timing is critical to success and opportunity.”
For Tony, there was no choice. His opportunity came knocking, and nothing—not even a dislocated ankle—was going to stop him.
In sporting circles, we call what Tony faced “adversity.” Adversity is a word heard on football fields, basketball courts, and baseball diamonds across the country. It’s plastered on sports teams’ t-shirts, echoed on sports radio, repeated again and again. But conquering adversity is rare these days. We’ve all seen the fingers pointed after a loss. We’ve heard the excuses: I couldn’t focus, I didn’t get much sleep, or my personal favorite, I felt anxious.
There were no excuses for Tony.
As he played his way through the biggest tournament of his life on a hobbled ankle, Tony quickly became a shining example of truly overcoming adversity. The injury was real. You’ve probably already found the pictures he posted after the tournament (yes, he waited until after the tournament to post the pictures). His ankle looks like something out of a horror movie. But Tony played. He didn’t make a single excuse, and in the process gave all those watching a master class in toughness.
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This post was originally published on couriernews.com, and is republished here with the author’s permission.
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Photo credit: Getty Images