Finau closes strong, keeps lead over Rose

SHANGHAI — Tony Finau struggled for so much of Saturday at the HSBC 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 70 and kept his three-shot lead because of a late collapse by Justin Rose, who played the final two holes in five 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 three over Justin Rose, Masters champion Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele.

Finau was on the verge of falling three 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 two shots, 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.

■ At Jackson, Miss., Cameron Champ shot an 8-under 64 to open a four-stroke lead in the Sanderson Farms Championship.

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.

■ At Taoyuan City, Taiwan, Nelly Korda shot a 3-under 69 to share the lead with WeiLing Hsu after three rounds of the LPGA Taiwan Championship.

■ At Thousand Oaks, Calif., Miguel Angel Jimenez shot his second straight 4-under 68 to take the second-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ Invesco QQQ Championship.

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