Finau takes 1-shot lead over Simpson at Phoenix Open
SCOTTSDALE. Ariz. — Tony Finau and Webb Simpson crashed golf’s biggest party with some back-nine fireworks.
Finau shot a 9-under 62 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over Simpson in the Waste Management Phoenix
Open, making an eagle on the par-5 13th and then, switching to a Kobe Bryant jersey for one hole, a birdie on TPC Scottsdale’s stadium par-3 16th.
Simpson had a hole-in-one on the par-3 12th in a 64.
Second-round leader J.B. Holmes and Hudson Swafford were two strokes back. Holmes shot 70 and Swafford had a 66. Holmes won at TPC Scottsdale in 2006 and 2008 for the first of his five PGA Tour titles.
Xander Schauffele (66), Adam Long (66) and Scott Piercy (68) were another shot back.
▶ Six years after combining brilliantly for Europe in the Ryder Cup, Graeme McDowell and Victor Dubuisson will play together in the final group at the Saudi International on Sunday.
McDowell birdied four of his last seven holes — including the 18th — to shoot 4-under 66 in the third round and claim a one-stroke lead on 12-under 198 overall at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club on Saturday.
Dubuisson is the nearest challenger after a 65, with the Frenchman showing an unexpected return to form after years in the doldrums. He has just one top-10 finish since November 2017 and has plummeted to No. 478 in the rankings.
▶ Brett Quigley won the Morocco Champions in his second PGA Tour Champions start, saving par on the final two holes Saturday to hold off Stephen Ames by a stroke.
The 50-year-old Quigley won a PGA Tour-sanctioned event for the first time since taking the 2001 Arkansas Classic for his second victory on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour.
Three strokes behind Ames entering the day, Quigley shot his second straight 6-under 66 to finish at 15-under 201 at Samanah Golf Club. Ames, the leader after each of the first two days, had a 70.