Steve Palmer's Rocket Mortgage Classic third-round preview, best bets, free tips

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf red button, 12.30pm Saturday

Best bets

Tony Finau to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic
4pts 13-8 general

Tony Finau to win 7pm twoball (3-4) and Cameron Young to win 6.50pm twoball (3-5)
2pts double Coral, Ladbrokes

Tony Finau to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic (13-8) and Patrick Reed to win LIV Golf Bedminster (11-4)
1pt double bet365

Story so far

Taylor Pendrith leads the Rocket Mortgage Classic by a shot heading into the weekend at Detroit Golf Club, but it is the red-hot form of Tony Finau which is the main story on the PGA Tour.

Finau completed his Tour hat-trick last week - a strong Sunday performance delivering 3M Open glory - and the giant Utah man has the scent of back-to-back victories in his nostrils.

Finau is one shot behind Pendrith and will be alongside the Canadian maiden in the 7pm (UK and Ireland) final third-round twoball. Finau started round four of the 3M Open five shots behind and triumphed by three, so will be confident of overcoming his slender weekend deficit.

Finau, 14-1 3M Open winner, was 16-1 ante-post for the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He is 13-8 with 36 holes to play, with Pendrith at 5-2. Patrick Cantlay, the world number four and pre-tournament favourite, is tied for seventh place and six shots off the pace.

Leaderboard
-15 Taylor Pendrith
-14 Tony Finau
-12 Lee Hodges
-10 Cameron Young, Russell Henley, Stewart Cink
-9 Sahith Theegala, Adam Scott, Stephan Jaeger, Si Woo Kim, Patrick Cantlay, Scott Stallings

Best prices
13-8 T Finau, 5-2 T Pendrith, 12 C Young, 14 P Cantlay, 16 L Hodges, 20 R Henley, 28 A Scott, S Theegala, 33 S Stallings, S W Kim, 40 S Cink, 100 bar

Third-round preview

It is groundhog week on the PGA Tour, with Tony Finau looking the man to beat after 36 holes, and the advice is to ride the hot hand again.

Punters who missed the pre-tournament Finau prices obviously have to take much shorter odds at the halfway stage of the event, but the Rocket Mortgage Classic does seem at the mercy of the 3M Open champion.

Finau has slowly but surely found his A-game from the Masters onwards, finishing second in the Mexico Open, fourth at Colonial and runner-up in the Canadian Open, before crashing into the winner's enclosure in Minnesota on Sunday.

Finau's last seven rounds - starting with the Sunday at the Open Championship - have been 66, 67, 68, 65, 67, 64, 66. Completion of a PGA Tour hat-trick seems to have injected an extra layer of self-belief in Finau, who was even talking about "win spurts" after round one this week. He knows he is playing extremely well - in total control of his ball-striking - and will expect to convert this opportunity for more silverware.

Taylor Pendrith seems a vulnerable frontrunner. He spent almost four months on the sidelines with a rib injury, returning to action in the Barbasol Championship on July 7. The slugger has played well, finishing 13th in the Barbasol and 11th in the Barracuda Championship, but it is asking a lot of a rookie maiden to hang to hold himself together in a duel with the world number 16.

Pendrith had a golden chance in the Bermuda Championship in October, early his his PGA Tour career, and he was hugely unimpressive under Sunday pressure. A final-round 76 meant he slid from first (three shots ahead) to fifth. Pendrith never won on the Korn Ferry Tour and the 31-year-old could be set for another near-miss.

Finau may have most to worry about from those behind him. Cameron Young (five shots off the lead) and Patrick Cantlay (six) will expect to set up a Sunday winning chance. Young and Cantlay must be respected, but they have precious little margin for error if Finau continues to strike his ball with such authority.

With no wind forecast for Saturday or Sunday, Finau can be expected to set up countless birdie looks and quickly extend his score past 20 under par. Only punters with deep pockets will be able to play at 13-8, but there seems little value in chasing the big prices about others. Finau appears a changed man - a process which started with his gutsy Northern Trust playoff success last August - and can fearlessly hunt further PGA Tour titles.

Punters seeking bigger prices could put Finau in a double with Patrick Reed, who has made an excellent start in the LIV Golf Bedminster. Reed, who fired a seven-under-par 64 in round one of the three-round Bedminster shootout, is tied for the lead and loaded with confidence.

Third-round twoball punters are pointed towards Finau, who is on offer at a surprisingly generous price against Pendrith (7pm), as well as Young (against Lee Hodges, 6.50pm). The double pays 9-5 with Coral and Ladbrokes.

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