Why Utah's Tony Finau isn’t playing in the Masters this year

Key Points:

• Tony Finau, a professional golfer with Utah ties, will miss the Masters Tournament for the first time since 2018 due to not qualifying, as he is ranked 111th in the Official World Golf Rankings and hasn't won a PGA Tour event in the past year.
• Former BYU golfer and 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir, who lives in Utah, is competing thanks to a lifetime exemption, though he is considered a long shot with odds of 200,000 to 1 and is ranked T84 by USA Today.
• Weir will tee off Thursday at 9:27 a.m. MDT in Group 19 alongside Wyndham Clark and amateur Mateo Pulcini, and has had modest success on the Champions Tour this year with a best finish of T14.
• Finau's streak of 33 consecutive major appearances ended after he failed to win the Valero Texas Open last week, which was necessary to qualify for the Masters, marking a downturn following his last top-10 finish in early 2025.
• Scottie Scheffler enters the Masters as a favorite to win, with notable contenders including Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, and Xander Schauffele, while Finau expressed deep disappointment about missing the tournament he regards as a "holy grail" of golf.