Finau finishes strong
Ready to close out
Tony Finau struggled for so much of the third round yesterday at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai that he was hopeful of a strong finish to carry some momentum into the final round. He got much more than he imagined. Finau closed with three straight birdies for a 2-under-par 70 and kept his 3-shot lead because of a late collapse by Justin Rose, who played the final two holes in 5 more shots than Finau required. “There was no need to panic,” Finau said. “Just play some good golf coming down the stretch, and I was able to do that.” Finau was at 13-under 203 and led by 3 ahead of Rose, Masters champion Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele. Finau was on the verge of falling 3 shots behind on the 16th hole after Rose had pitched to within 3 feet for a birdie, and Finau hit wedge that came up well short. He rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt from off the green to stay within 2shots, hit a tee shot that rolled to within 18 inches of the cup for a short birdie on the par-3 17th, and then holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th. Rose wasted a great round with a sloppy finish and had to settle for a 70. He was 2 shots ahead going to the 17th hole when his tee shot went off the side of a hill and into a hazard, leading to double bogey. Then, his 4-iron to the par-5 18th was too far right and tumbled down the hill and into the water. Rose had a chance to save par until missing a 4-foot putt. Andrew Putnam, playing in his first World Golf Championship, had a 67 and was 5 shots behind, along with Tommy Fleetwood (72). Fleetwood was 2 shots behind until he chopped up the par-5 14th hole, 3-putting from 12 feet for a triple bogey. Rory McIlroy also had an 8 on the 14th hole as he continued a big slide with a 75, leaving him 21 shots behind Finau. It not only was the second triple bogey this week for McIlroy, he has had five scores of 6 or higher on his card this week. Brooks Koepka, in his debut at No. 1 in the world, had a 71 and was 14 shots behind.
Champ a champ?
Cameron Champ shot an 8-under 64 to open a 4-stroke lead in the PGA’s Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss. Champ has held at least a share of the lead all three days at Country Club of Jackson, opening with a 65 and shooting a 70 on Friday. Averaging a field-best 306.7 yards off the tee, the 23-yearold PGA Tour rookie has hit 44-of-54 greens in regulation. Yesterday, he hit 15-of-18 and had just 25 putts. Corey Conners was second, matching Champ with a 64 to get to 13-under. D.J. Trahan, the 2006 winner when the event was the Southern Farm Bureau Classic, was 5 strokes back with Shawn Stefani. Trahan shot 67, and Stefani had a 68. Norman Xiong, the 19-yearold who was tied with Champ for the secondround lead, had a 76 to drop into a tie for 36th at 5-under.