NASSAU, Bahamas - Tony Finau had never seen Albany Golf Club until this past week's pro-am in advance of the Hero World Challenge, and one aspect of the course caught his eye immediately.
"When I'm playing well, I feel like I can score on any golf course, especially a course that has five par 5s," Finau said.
He made birdie on four of them Saturday, leading him to a 5-under-par 67 that gave him a share of the lead with Jon Rahm and Henrik Stenson, setting up a wide-open conclusion that could feature more than half of the 18-man field as contenders.
The tournament host is not among them.
Tiger Woods took three shots from just off the green at the par-5 third hole - chipping is tough on everyone at Albany - for a double bogey and a ragged start that never got much better until he made a few late birdies to salvage a 72. He was in last place, 11 shots out of the lead.
"It's definitely not alarming, for sure," said Woods, who is in his first 72-hole event since winning the Tour Championship to close the 2017-18 PGA Tour season in September. "I just haven't played clean."
Rahm and Stenson each shot a 69 to join Finau at 13-under 203, with Gary Woodland (67) two shots behind in fourth and Rickie Fowler (67) another stroke back in fifth. Tied for sixth at 9 under were Dustin Johnson (72) and Xander Schauffele (66), with a trio sharing eighth at 8 under: Alexander Noren (70), Patrick Reed (66) and Justin Rose (68).
Rahm, a 24-year-old Spaniard, won the PGA Tour's CareerBuilder Challenge in January and the European Tour's Spanish Open in April. Neither Finau, a 29-year-old American, nor Stenson, a 42-year-old Swede, has won this year and would be happy to end 2018 with a victory, even though this holiday event is not attached to any tour and is considered unofficial - except for the World Golf Ranking points, which are more than four of the domestic events in the fall on the PGA Tour.
Finau did everything right except win this year, including making his first Ryder Cup appearance. Stenson has won at least once around the world in five of the past six years.
"Winning is always nice," said Stenson, a runner-up to Hideki Maruyama at this event two years ago. "It never gets old, no matter how big or small the tournament. You can't say that this is a small tournament, given the (quality of the) field. Who you're playing against is obviously going to give you a nice boost if you managed to win it."
As for Woods?
He isn't putting a lot of stock into this event, and he wasn't about to make any comparisons to his return to golf in the Bahamas last year.
"Last year I was in a completely different spot, completely different scenario and trying to piece together, see if I could actually play this game again," Woods said. "I know I can play now, and I know I can win. I just have not done a very good job this week of playing clean and keeping my rounds going like I should and could have."
Repeat title in sight
GOLD COAST, Australia - Cameron Smith shot a 5-under 67 and increased his lead to three strokes over Marc Leishman entering the final round of the Australian PGA Championship.
Smith was at 14-under 202 overall at Royal Pines Resort, where he is trying to repeat as the tournament's champion.
Leishman, who shot a 69 in Saturday's third round, and Smith played together while representing Australia at the World Cup of Golf team event last weekend in Melbourne. They tied for second behind champion Belgium.
Harold Varner III of the United States, who won the Australian PGA Championship in 2016, shot a 71 and was tied for third with Australia's Matthew Millar (67) at 7 under. Another stroke back in fifth were three more Aussies: Braden Becker (67), Ben Eccles (69) and Matt Jager (73).
American tied for lead
BEAU CHAMP, Mauritius - Justin Harding and Kurt Kitayama were tied for the lead at 16-under 200 and held a three-shot advantage heading into the final round of the Mauritius Open.
Harding, a 32-year-old South African, jumped six places to join 36-hole leader Kitayama out in front after an 8-under 64 in the third round. Kitayama, a 25-year-old American, shot a 2-under 70 on Saturday at Four Seasons Golf Course.
Tied for second were India's S. Chikkarangappa (71), Japan's Masahiro Kawamura (67) and France's Matthieu Pavon (70). Alone in sixth was France's Victor Perez (71) at 12 under.
The tournament is co-sanctioned by the Asian, European and South African tours.