Finau, Pendrith pacing Rocket Mortgage

DETROIT — Tony Finau and Taylor Pendrith are in a Detroit duel.

Finau shot a 7-under-par 65 on Saturday to match Pendrith (66) at 21-under 195 for a four-stroke lead entering the Rocket Mortgage Classic’s final round.

The 3M Open winner last week in Minnesota, Finau is trying to become the first to win consecutive regular-season PGA tournaments in three years.

“I probably have more pressure just because I’ve never won before and Tony’s a multiple winner and he won last week,” said Pendrith, who was a stroke a ahead entering the round and birdied four of the last five holes.

Pendrith had third-round lead by three shots in October at the Bermuda Championship before closing with a 76 and finishing a career-high fifth. In March, he was 13th at the Players Championship and came away with a career-best $327,222 payday — and a broken rib.

Rookie of the year front-runner Cameron Young (65) was alone in third. He matched the Detroit Golf Club record with a 63 on Friday.

“I have to play a ridiculous round of golf to have any chance,” Young said.

Stephan Jaeger (65) was five shots back. Patrick Cantlay (66), ranked No. 4, was six shots behind.

Pendrith was the second-round leader after setting the tournament 36-hole record at 15-under 129. The 31-year-old tour rookie from Canada missed nearly four months with the broken rib.

All afternoon, Pendrith and Finau took turns pulling and falling into ties and taking leads.

“It’s almost like a match play situation where we kind of flipped the script there on each other,” Finau said. “We both have done a great job up to this point through 54 holes of maintaining our composure.”

Pendrith opened with 6-foot birdie putt to take a two-shot lead. Finau pulled within a stroke on the next hole, making a 20-foot chip from the greenside rough for birdie.

Pendrith, who had his share of fans make the four-hour drive from in Ontario, looked calm as he bumped fists with two young boys as he walked to the third tee.

■ LPGA: At Irvine, Scotland, Celine Boutier had five front-nine birdies in a 5-under 67 to tie fourthranked Lydia Ko (71) atop the Women’s Scottish Open leaderboard at 15-under 201 entering the final round. Maude-aimee Leblanc (66) and Leonie Harm (67) were one shot back, and Eun-hee Ji (70) and Lilia Vu (71) were two behind.

■ DP World: At St. Andrews, Scotland, Sean Crocker closed with a chip-in eagle on the par-5 18th hole to cap a 3-under 69 for an 18-under 198 total and a two-shot lead entering the Hero Open’s final round. Jens Dantorp (69) was alone in second. Crocker, bidding for his first tour title, seeks a wire-to-wire win.

■ LIV: At Bedminster, N.J., Henrik Stenson shot 2-under 69 for a 9-under 133 total to extend his lead to three strokes entering the final round of his series debut. Dustin Johnson (69) was alone in second, and Talor Gooch (64), Carlos Ortiz (70) and Patrick Reed (73) were another shot back.

Carlos Osorio The Associated Press Co-leader Tony Finau follows through on a drive from the 14th tee Saturday in the Rocket Mortgage Classic’s third round.