Just days after withdrawing from the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions minutes before his Thursday tee time, Kevin Na appeared set to try to play in the Sony Open in Hawaii. However, by Wednesday afternoon, he had withdrawn from the event.
Na traveled to Honolulu and practiced at Waialae Country Club ahead of the first full-field event of the year. That was particularly interesting because Na withdrew from Kapalua the week prior with a fractured bone in his right pinky finger. He suspected the injury could keep him out a month.
Na has yet to indicate how he suffered the injury, but he tried to fight through it in the Tournament of Champions pro-am, only able to play 12 holes. The Vegas native tried to use an injection of pain medicine to get through the week, but he was unable to pull off the week.
In Honolulu, he was trying to work around the injury with a splint on his pinky finger, according to Golfworld.
Looks like Kevin Na, who WD'd from @Sentry_TOC, might give it a go here at @SonyOpenHawaii. Was on practice putting green at Waialae CC today. Played 12 holes with splint on broken right pinky Monday.
— Dave Shedloski (@DaveShedloski) January 8, 2019
After giving it a go again on Wednesday, Na determined it wouldn't work or the pain was too much. He withdrew from the tournament, giving David Hearn a spot in the tournament.
This has a bit of a Brooks Koepka feel to it. Last year, Koepka ended 2017 dead last at the Hero World Challenge with a then-undisclosed injury and followed it up with the same finish at the 2018 Sentry Tournament of Champions. He then had surgery that left him out until May.
It's unclear if Na can play his way through the fractured finger, though the attempt this week suggests Na will continue looking for a way to play.
