Co-leading in Detroit, Tony Finau can do something he's never done before tomorrow

SALT LAKE CITY — One of the veterans on the PGA Tour with 11 seasons of experience, Tony Finau has almost seen it all, perhaps short of a major championship title among the few exceptions.

He can check another historic item off his bucket list Sunday, too.

The 32-year-old Rose Park native has never won back-to-back tournaments on the PGA Tour, nor won a tournament after leading or sharing a lead in the final 18 holes. But he can do just that in Detroit, where is battling Canadian Taylor Pendrith at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

With a win, Finau would be the first golfer on the PGA Tour to win consecutive starts in back-to-back regular-season weeks in three years.

The duo share a three-day total of 21-under-par 195 ahead of Sunday's finale round at the Detroit Golf Club, and with few other golfers in sight to challenge for contention as Finau and Pendrith dueled for the top spot through Saturday's third round.

Finau added another bogey-free round with seven birdies Saturday, including a six-footer for his seventh on No. 17 to tie Pendrith atop the leaderboard. The West High graduate has just two bogeys in the last 125 holes of regulation, including dropping one on No. 18 with a four-shot lead to clinch the 3M Open last week for the third win on tour of his career.

Pendrith has been just as good, carding 25 birdies — including four of his last five holes for 66 Saturday. Meanwhile, Finau has been as consistent as they come, hitting 50-of-54 greens in regulation with 36 fairways, and ranking the first in the field in putts on greens-in-regulation prior to Saturday's 66.

But most importantly, obviously, is the lack of squares on his scorecard.

"A clean 54 holes is really nice," said Finau, who is a 135-point favorite to win the tournament, according to FanDuel. "Taylor's playing some great golf. I can't say pulled away from the guys, this is the type of golf course where someone can shoot 8, 9, 10 under, but if we put together a good round tomorrow, might be a two-man race and I'm looking forward to the challenge again."

The duo will tee off in the final pairing at 12 p.m. MT Sunday, with the final round broadcast on CBS. A day later, Finau, who splits time between Utah and Arizona, is scheduled to fly to his native state for his charity pro-am event Monday at Oakridge Country Club in conjunction with the Utah Championship.

But first, he's got some business to attend. Neither Finau nor Pendrick have ever won on the PGA Tour when leading the final round — the veteran is 0-for-5 on his previous attempts, while Pendrick one in his previous 26 starts.

So Sunday's finale could be historic, for a few people — or at least, must-see television for those watching at home and a comparable gallery to the ones that shouted "Stay hot, Tony!" as he matched Pendrith's two-time run of three-straight birdies in the penultimate round.

"It had a nice feel to it, a lot of energy from the crowd and both played some solid golf and kind of feeding off each other," Finau said. "It was nice to have that type

of energy and looks like we'll run it back tomorrow."

If anyone can catch the fast-rising duo, it's Cameron Young. The rookie who finished second at the British Open tied a Detroit Golf Club record with 63 to sit four shots back. Germany's Stephan Jaeger is fourth at 16-under, followed by Patrick Cantlay (-15) and Scott Stallings (-14).

"I would love to be closer. I think I had a chance to shoot nine or 10 today, but yeah, I mean, I'm happy that I've kept it somewhat close," said Young, who is considered a frontrunner for PGA Tour rookie of the year. "And I know those guys are playing some great golf in that group behind me today, so yeah, I mean we'll be chasing all day tomorrow."

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