An, Im share lead at 62 after 1st round of Wyndham

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – It’s been seven years since Vijay Singh last appeared in the final group on Sunday at a PGA TOUR event. That’s no surprise – at age 56, Singh has gradually shifted his focus to PGA TOUR Champions. It’s been, well, never since Wyndham Clark played in the final group of a TOUR event. That’s no surprise, either — he’s just a rookie making his 11th start of the season and 19th of his young career. So raise your hand if you expected Singh and Clark to tee off last in Sunday’s final round of The Honda Classic. Anyone? Anybody? Didn’t think so. But there they will be, two players 31 years apart in age, each looking for a victory that will define their careers in completely opposite ways. Tee time will be 1:35 p.m. ET at PGA National. “It’s just fun being in contention,â€� said Clark, who is at 7 under and owns a one-shot lead after shooting a 3-under 67 on Saturday. “I love the moment. I love playing in front of fans and I love to win. “So I want to be there on Sundays, and the fact that I am is great.â€� Singh is one of three players tied for second at 6 under, along with Keith Mitchell and Kyoung-Hoon Lee. Unlike Clark, Singh has been there plenty of times on Sunday; after all, he has 38 career PGA TOUR wins, won the FedExCup in 2008 and already has been enshrined in the World Golf Hall of Fame. His last TOUR victory was 11 years ago – specifically, 3,835 days ago — when he won the first two events of the FedExCup Playoffs. If he can pull off the win Sunday, he would replace Sam Snead (age 52) as the oldest winner in TOUR history. MUST READS: Round 3, The Honda Classic What you need to know about Wyndham Clark 56-year-old Vijay Singh in contention for record-breaking win Tape job on arm helps JT bounce back Adam Schenk on penalty: ‘Intention was never to cheat’ “I don’t know what I found, but I’m going to see if it’s still there tomorrow,â€� said Singh, who tied for sixth in his last appearance at PGA National in 2016. The last time he was in the final group at a TOUR event was the 2012 BMW Championship, when he finished eighth. New NBC analyst Paul Azinger is three years older than Singh. “Vijay is a miracle man and he has still got it,â€� Azinger said. “Nobody hits more balls than Vijay Singh. At age 56, I bet he’ll be a little nervous tomorrow.â€� Clark – who made the field this week thanks to his top-10 finish at last week’s Puerto Rico Open — has torn up the front nine at PGA National, with 12 birdies against one bogey. If he can control his nerves, he might get out to a quick start. Meanwhile, Singh has managed to deal with the infamous Bear Trap – holes 15, 16 and 17 – in impressive fashion. He’s 2 under in that stretch, with the rest of the field a collective 0.578 over par on those holes. Of course, if either stumbles, there are plenty of others lurking, including some of the field’s notable names. Rickie Fowler shot a 66 on Saturday that he called a “great roundâ€� and is in solo fifth at 5 under. Brooks Koepka is tied for sixth at 4 under and has to feel good about his position considering, “I haven’t hit the ball very well this week.â€� Fowler won The Honda Classic in 2017; another former Honda winner is Michael Thompson in 2013. He’s in the group with Koepka and has been on a roll lately – top-15 finishes in each of his last four starts, including a T-7 at the Genesis Open. “I’ve got a really great swing thought that I’ve been riding,â€� Thompson said. Fowler and Thompson know what it takes to win on PGA National. Koepka knows what it takes to win on tough courses. “No lead is safe here, really,â€� Fowler said. “I should know – two years ago, I was four shots clear, and there’s a lot of water around this place. There’s a lot of things that can happen. … “Big thing for me tomorrow is keeping it as clean as possible. I’m going to have to come from behind and with that, you can’t really make mistakes. … There’s not a big enough cushion out here.â€� Added Koepka: “If you’re nervous, it’ll show up.â€� There’s every reason for Clark and Singh to be nervous in the final group Sunday. A breakthrough win is possible for Clark; a record-setting win is within grasp for Singh. On Saturday night, Clark said he plans to play cards with his caddie, something he does to relax each night during a tournament. Not until Sunday afternoon will he truly know the hand he’s been dealt.

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HOUSTON — Tony Finau finished his opening round with a string of birdies and then took the momentum right into Friday, making 10 birdies to match his career low with an 8-under 62 to build a big lead in the Cadence Bank Houston Open. Finau was at his best late in the round at Memorial Park, finishing with three straight birdies. His final shot from light rough left of the 18th fairway still had enough spin to check up about 4 feet from the hole. He was at 13-under 127 and four shots clear of Patrick Rodgers (63) among early starters. Alex Noren, part of the three-way tie for the 18-hole lead, was at 8 under with three holes to play when bad weather in the forecast stopped play for the rest of Friday. Noren was facing a 40-foot eagle putt when play resumes Saturday. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler also was in the late wave and was 5 under through 13 holes. Thunderstorms and gusts that halted play are part of a system that is expected to shift to a northerly wind and drop temperatures some 20 degrees over the weekend. Several tee boxes and pin positions were adjusted to account for the forecast. Finau and the other early starters had relatively calm conditions, and he knew Friday morning was the time to score. That’s just what he did. “They set the tee boxes up to where we had to take advantage. We got the better wave,” Finau said. “Thirty-six holes is a lot of golf left, and it’s trickier to score with a north wind. But I’m looking forward to the challenge.” Finau has had a 62 four previous times, most recently at the RBC Canadian Open this summer. Rodgers hit his second shot to inside 2 feet on the par-5 third hole — he started on the back nine — for an eagle, and he finished with two birdies for his 63. He was in contention late at the wind-blown Butterfield Bermuda Championship two weeks ago, tying for third in his quest to finally win on the PGA TOUR. Rodgers was among the elite when he left Stanford a decade ago, growing up in the same junior golf circles as Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. “It’s a fine line out here. It takes a lot of patience. I can’t force a win out here on this TOUR and I can’t control the conditions and the breaks or what anyone else does,” Rodgers said. “If I do a good job of focusing on what I can control and getting lost in my process of playing, I back myself every time.” Finau shot 30 on the front nine of Memorial Park on Thursday afternoon, finishing with a 35-foot birdie putt. He was back at the course some 12 hours later, rolled in a par-saving 15-footer on No. 1 and posted another 30 on the front nine. “I finished 5 under on my last nine yesterday and I just rolled that momentum right into today,” Finau said. “I thought I made a huge putt for par on No. 1 and then I was kind of off to the races. I almost made a hole-in-one on No. 2 and just kind of cruising from there. It was a really nice round of golf.”

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