Steve Palmer's Houston Open final-round preview, best bets, free golf tips

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 6pm Sunday

Best bets

Winning margin five shots or more
3pts 13-10 Hills

Wyndham Clark without Tony Finau
1pt 6-1 Betfair, Power

Justin Rose top Great Britain and Ireland
1pt 3-1 Betfair, Power

Story so far

Tony Finau is no bigger than 2-13 to win the Houston Open with 18 holes to play at Memorial Park Golf Course. The rampant Utah man, 18-1 ante-post, has carded rounds of 65, 62 and 68 to reach 15 under par.

Ben Taylor is alone in second place, four shots behind, while there is a further three shots gap to those in third place - a trio which includes Justin Rose.

Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns were the only two players ahead of Finau in the pre-tournament betting. Scheffler is tied for 25th place, 12 shots adrift, while Burns missed the cut.

Taylor, a PGA Tour maiden, is 16-1 to topple Finau and make his breakthrough. Taylor, a 30-year-old Londoner who is based in Florida, is a Korn Ferry Tour graduate. He won on that circuit in 2018. The final threeball of Finau, Taylor and Rose is scheduled on the tee at 3.45pm UK and Ireland time.

Leaderboard
-15 Tony Finau
-11 Ben Taylor
-8 Justin Rose, Wyndham Clark, Tyson Alexander
-7 Gary Woodland, Joel Dahmen

Best prices
2-13 T Finau, 16 B Taylor, 50 W Clark, 55 J Rose, 125 bar

Final-round preview

Tony Finau was not happy with his performance in the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba - rounds of 68 and 71 to miss the cut by a shot - so he practised intensely in the aftermath of that failure.

The result of that work has been a rock-solid display in the Houston Open - and the tournament seems at his mercy with a round to go at Memorial Park. He hit every fairway in round three and tops the driving accuracy statistics.

Saturday's third round highlighted how comfortable Finau has become as a frontrunner. In the past, being in contention unsettled the man from Salt Lake City, but beating Cameron Smith in a playoff for The Northern Trust last year did wonders for confidence.

Finau was then on a winning Ryder Cup team, before claiming back-to-back PGA Tour glory in the 3M Open and the Rocket Mortgage Classic in July. Finau won three points from four matches in the Presidents Cup prior to his Mayakoba flop - and today he stands on the brink of a fifth Tour title.

It is difficult to imagine Finau being beaten in Houston. He carded a bogey-free third round in the most challenging conditions of the week. With the wind set to drop for Sunday, the leader should be able to keep a relatively clean scorecard and cruise to victory.

Ben Taylor is world number 236 - and he has never been better than 235th in the rankings. His best finish on the PGA Tour is 20th place in last year's low-grade Barbasol Championship. The Englishman has been effective on the Korn Ferry Tour, but has a huge amount to prove at the highest level.

The gap between Finau and Taylor can be expected to increase in round four. Wyndham Clark has been in decent nick over the last month, while Justin Rose will be thrilled with the quality of his putting stroke this week, so it could be between those two for runner-up honours.

A three-bet Sunday attack is advised. Hills are betting on the winning margin and their 13-10 about it being five shots or more is attractive. This is new domain for Taylor, who could easily capitulate, and Finau has a seven-shot buffer on those in third place.

Clark can be backed at a tasty 6-1 in the without Finau market, while Rose looks great value at 3-1 for top Great Britain and Ireland. Taylor is the only player ahead of Rose in this section. Russell Knox and Aaron Rai are two shots behind Rose.

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