Utah's Finau jumps into top 20 at British Open's third round


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SOUTHPORT, England — Branden Grace set a major record in 157 years of professional golf by shooting 8-under-par 62 in the third round of the British Open.

He wasn't the only one to go low, though.

Lehi resident Tony Finau birdied three of his final four holes to shoot 3-under 67 on moving day at the annual major championship held across the pond at Royal Birkdale golf club Saturday.

With the finish, Finau — who is competing in his sixth major across a decade-long career — jumped into the top 20 ahead of Sunday's final round. He's currently tied for 18th.

The West High graduate started the round shaky, taking a double bogey on the par-3, 199-yard fourth hole to go 1-over midway through the front nine. But Finau rallied with birdies on par-3 seventh and par-4 ninth for a 1-under 33 front-nine finish.

Then the run began. A bogey at the par-4, 402-yard No. 10 temporarily set him back to even-par on the day, a score similar to his even-par 70 in the opening round and 3-over 73 Friday that helped him narrowly avoid the cut line.

A birdie on the par-5, 542-yard 15th hole, though, was all Finau needed for a strong finish — one that put him tied for 16th and nearly 20 spots up the leaderboard from when the day started.

Through 54 holes, Finau is at even-par 210 and primed for the fourth top-20 finish in a major of his career. Of the 28 golfers tied with Finau or better, all but three of them shot better than even-par Saturday.

Jordan Spieth leads the tournament at 1-under, three shots ahead of Matt Kuchar. U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka and Austin Connelly are tied for third at 5-under.

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