Finau goes three clear
WGC-HSBC: AMERICAN MAKES LIGHT OF HARD-LUCK BOUNCE IN SHANGHAI
Rose, Fleetwood just in touch three shots behind.
Tony Finau charged into a three-shot lead at the midway point of the WGC-HSBC Champions yesterday with a splendid five-under 67 that was slowed only by an improbable hard-luck bounce off a sprinkler head.
Finau had snatched the lead from overnight front-runner Patrick Reed and was pulling away after birdies on five of the first 10 holes despite swirling winds at Shanghai’s Sheshan International Golf Club.
But his approach on the parfour 11th landed smack on a greenside sprinkler and bounded past the hole into a hazard, leading to double-bogey.
“That’s about as bad a break as I have ever had. But one thing I’ve learned is you take the good with the bad,” Finau said with a laugh.
But the 29-year-old American, whose fast-improving game has vaulted him up the world rankings to 17th, righted the ship with three birdies down the stretch.
“I knew I was still playing well and there was a lot of golf to be played,” said Finau, who proved an inspired captain’s pick for the USA in last month’s crushing Ryder Cup loss to Europe.
The first player of Polynesian descent to play on the PGA Tour, Finau made eight birdies to move to 11-under, with Reed at eight-under after managing only par for the day.
Tied with Reed were defending champion and world No 3 Justin Rose and fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood.
Rose, who came from eight shots back in the final round last year to lift the trophy, was feeling good after not dropping a shot all day on the way to a five-under 67.
“Those rounds don’t often come, especially in breezy conditions,” said Rose, who will tee off with Finau and Reed today.
American Xander Schauffele finished four strokes behind Finau after managing a one-under 71 in winds he said were “all over the place.”
“If you look at the leaderboard, no one is running too far away with it, so it’s nice to not go the opposite way today,” Schauffele said.
After a superb opening-round 64, reigning Masters champ Reed had to scramble yesterday as he found the water three times.
But he showed off his shot-making ability to avoid what he said would have been a “big number” on 18.
After slicing his tee shot into the water, Reed smacked a 170yard iron from a difficult down- hill lie, which faded over the water to a few feet from the pin. He just missed the birdie putt. Other big names failed to shine in a tournament dubbed “Asia’s Major” and which annually gathers a premier field with its winner’s purse of $1.8 million.
Newly crowned world No 1 Brooks Koepka struggled to a 74 to enter the weekend at two-overpar, while the man he replaced as the planet’s top-ranked player, Dustin Johnson, was another stroke behind.
Four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy followed his opening round level-par 72 with a 77 to sit well off the pace. –