Tony Finau says dislocation recovery was ‘mind over matter’

Tony Finau pulled off a superhuman effort of gargantuan proportions to grab a share of second spot after the opening day of the Masters.

But, according to him, it was simply a case of ‘mind over matter’.

The American somehow recovered after dislocating his left ankle – which he then proceeded to ‘pop’ back in – celebrating a hole-in-one in Wednesday’s Par-3 Tournament.

Finau, who is playing in his first Masters, visited a hospital in downtown Augusta on Wednesday night, where he was relieved to be told there were was no break.

On Thursday afternoon, the 28-year-old shot the round of the day, a four-under 68.

“This is a moment I dreamed of my whole life, so to see it drifting away was tough,” Finau told ESPN after his round.

He was given the all clear after the MRI scan. “I was very excited to hear that,” he added.

An early range visit on Thursday morning, however, was the real acid test and, almost immediately, he said he felt fine.

“It felt good,” he said. “That might have been a little bit of adrenaline. It was mind over matter. Let’s not think about the ankle. After each hole, I felt better and better. I did a good job of masking that it had happened.”

The American is now going to rest and elevate his leg with ice, and get some rest.

Asked how he managed to get around one of the hardest  courses in the world after simply popping his ankle back into place, he said it was all, figuratively speaking, in the head.

“I was able to stay in the moment. Every shot I hit, I thought about it. It was easy to stay in the moment and masked the pressure a little bit.”