Feeding on birdies, Tony Finau works up handy lead in Houston

Tony Finau - TheGolfingHub
Tony Finau is seeking his fifth PGA TOUR victory at the Houston Open in his 218th start.

After matching the course record of 8-under 62 during Round Two (Scottie Scheffler/2021/R2), Tony Finau (1st/-15) followed with 2-under 68 and entered the final round of the Cadence Bank Houston Open with a four-stroke lead.

His 195 (-15) ties the 54-hole scoring record at the Houston Open (Curtis Strange/1980); recorded most birdies of any player through 54 holes (18).

Related: Houston a milestone in Carl Yuan’s rookie year on PGA Tour

Finau is 1-for-6 with the 54-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR.

In his only previous start this season, Finau missed last week’s cut at World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba.

Finau (No. 15) entered this week as the third highest-ranked player in the field behind No. 2 Scottie Scheffler (T25) and No. 12 Sam Burns (WD).

He is seeking his fifth PGA TOUR victory in his 218th start.

Ben Taylor (2nd/-11) is in search of his first career TOUR title in his 45th start (best: T20/2021 Barbasol Championship).

He seeks to become the first first-time PGA TOUR winner this season and eighth player to make the Cadence Bank Houston Open his first career TOUR title since 2000 (most recent: Carlos Ortiz/2020).

Taylor recorded two runner-up finishes, including one in the regular season finale, on the Korn Ferry Tour last season to secure a return to the PGA TOUR.

Previously graduated via the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Finals and played the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons on TOUR.

 

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Through 54 holes, 10-time PGA TOUR winner and 2018 FedEx Cup champion Justin Rose (T3/-8) is 8-under on the front nine and even on the back nine; making seventh tournament appearance and first since 2018 (best: T14/2010).

Ryan Armour (T20/-4) made a hole-in-one at No. 7, a 169-yard par 3 for his second ace on TOUR and first since the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic.