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Jim Knous, yes, Jim Knous will head into the final round of the Fortinet Championship with a share of the 54-hole lead. The world No. 1078 shot up the leaderboard on Saturday, surprising many by the method through which he was effective.
Starting the day at 7-under, the 31-year-old turned in 6-under 30 to grab the attention of his playing competitors. Stalling in the midst of his back-nine, the Colorado native made birdies on the two-closing par-5’s to fire a third-round score of 7-under 65.
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Ranking first in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and tied for fifth in SG: Putting, Knous has taken an unorthodox route to the top of the leaderboard. Posting –0.89 SG: Approach through the first three rounds, he ranks 60th in said category as he is losing strokes to the field in arguably the most important statistical category.
Regardless, Knous will start the final round with a share of the lead alongside the 36-hole leader, Maverick McNealy. The Stanford alum bounced back from an inauspicious start as it appeared the nerves had gotten the best of the 25-year-old.
Still looking for his first victory on the PGA Tour, the California native began with an opening-nine of 2-over 38. A nervy start to his weekend, McNealy righted the ship and finished on a high note, playing his final six-holes in 4-under, which included three consecutive birdies on his final three-holes.
Turning in a round of 2-under 70, McNealy will join Knous in tomorrow’s final pairing at 14-under. Looking to hold off the likes of Max Homa and Mito Pereira at 12-under, the duo will have their work cut out for them. Despite starting at the same number to begin the final round, the oddsmakers at PointsBet Sportsbook have McNealy as the favorite at +250 over Knous at +650.
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Updated Odds to Win (Odds Via PointsBet):
+250: Maverick McNealy
+650: Jim Knous
+900: Max Homa, Mito Pereira
+1200: Troy Merritt
+1400: Scott Stallings
+1600: Beau Hossler
+1800: Talor Gooch
+2200: Webb Simpson, Will Zalatoris
+3300: Harold Varner III, Si Woo Kim
+4000: Patton Kizzire
+5000: C.T. Pan, Phil Mickelson
Round 4 Plays (Odds Via PointsBet):
Mito Pereira (+900 to win):
Having a pre-tournament outright wager on the Chilean, the way Saturday ended left a sour taste in my mouth. Appearing to be in control for the majority of the round, Pereira limped home and is honestly lucky to be within two-strokes of the lead heading into the final round.
Standing at 4-under for the day on the 11th tee, Pereira would bogey three of his next six holes to drop to 11-under and out of the solo lead. Making birdie on his final hole of the day, perhaps he can ride what little momentum he garnered on the 18th hole into Sunday. Getting the nerves out of the way a day early, all the pressure will be on the final pairing of Knous and McNealy, making way for Pereira.
Ranking first in SG: Tee-to-Green through a balanced effort of 25th in SG: Off-the-Tee, second in SG: Approach, and 23rd in SG: Around-the-Green, a strong putting performance would put Pereira over the top. If he is able to repeat his Friday performance on the greens when he posted 1.20 SG: Putting, it should be enough for the three-win Korn Ferry Tour promote to capture his first victory on the PGA Tour. While it is a far shout from his +7500 pre-tournament number, I am still comfortable suggesting Pereira at +900 to find his way into the winner’s circle.
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