The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Despite hitting sprinkler, Finau leads HSBC by three
Tony Finau has enjoyed such a good year that he wasn’t about to let one bad break get him down Friday in the HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
Finau had just built a threeshot lead as Patrick Reed began to stumble when Finau hit an approach from the rough on the 11th hole toward the green at Sheshan International. The ball landed on a sprinkler, shot high in the air and rolled over the back and into the hazard. It led to a double bogey and cut his lead to one shot. Finau didn’t flinch. He had a pair of birdies on the par 5s, laid up on the reachable par-4 16th and made birdie, and wound up with a 5-under 67. That put him at 11-under 133, three shots clear of Reed (72), Tommy Fleetwood (68) and defending champion Justin Rose (67).
“That was about as bad a break as I’ve ever had, to kick all the way over the green into the hazard,” Finau said. “One thing I’ve learned in this game, you take the good with the bad and keep moving forward. I knew I was playing well still and still at the top of the leaderboard. Just keep plugging along and try to get that back and I was able to do that.”
Reed opened with a pair of quick birdies in a swirling wind that came out of the opposite direction of the first round. He made his first bogey of the tournament on the fifth hole of the second round by missing a 4-foot putt after a smart chip shot from deep rough. Then, he hit into the water on No. 6 and had to scramble to make bogey. He also hit into the water on the par-5 eighth, but his short game allowed him to save par.
The Masters champion looked certain to drop another shot on the par-5 18th when his tee shot bounded off the side of a hill and into the water. Reed took his penalty drop, and then tried to hit a slice over two portions of the water. He blasted his hybrid on to about 12 feet for a two-putt birdie and a 72.
“I figured I just hit the shot I needed — a big, huge slice,” Reed said. “Why not start it toward the grandstands to the left?”
Rose won last year by rallying from eight shots behind on the final day, so a threeshot deficit shouldn’t look all that daunting. He plodded his way around the course and kept bogeys off his card. He missed a 15-foot eagle attempt on the last hole.
Finau hasn’t won since the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, an opposite-field event that was held the same week as the Match Play. But it’s been a big year for him. He has 10 finishes the top 10, and his consistency led to him making his first Ryder Cup.
Fleetwood birdied No. 18 to join Reed and Rose at 8-under 136. Xander Schauffele was another shot behind after a 71, while Patrick Cantlay wasted a birdie chance on the final hole and had to settle for 68. He was five behind.
Rose has a chance to return to No. 1 with a victory, and it doesn’t look as though Brooks Koepka can put up much of a fight. Koepka, in his debut at No. 1, was frequently stretching his back and at times walking with an uncomfortable gait. He also missed several short putts that left him 13 shots back.
PGA Tour: Norman Xiong shot a 5-under 67 on Friday on another damp, chilly day at the Country Club of Jackson (Miss.) for a share of the second-round lead with Cameron Champ at the Sanderson Farms Championship.
The 19-year-old Xiong — who made his first cut in seven career starts — is trying to become the second-youngest winner on tour since 1932. He matched Champ at 9 under for the tournament.
Xiong made a 55-foot putt from the fringe for eagle on No. 11.
Champ, who was the firstround leader after shooting a 65, had a two-shot lead over Xiong until ending Friday’s round with two straight bogeys. He finished with a 70.
Shawn Stefani and Jonathan Byrd were one shot back. Hudson Swafford, Seth Reeves, Scott Stallings, D.J. Trahan and Chad Ramey were two shots back.
LPGA Tour: Wei-Ling Hsu was feeling the love from her home crowd at the LPGA Taiwan Championship and it inspired her to a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke lead after two rounds. Hsu had a total of 9-under 135 on the Ta Shee Golf and Country Club, one ahead of first-round leader Jodi Ewart Shadoff (71).
Former No. 1 Lydia Ko was the big mover Friday with a round-of-the day 66 to move into third place and within two strokes of her lead. Mirim Lee (67) and Nelly Korda (71) were tied for fourth, three shots off the lead.