Tony Finau collected the third win from his past seven PGA Tour starts as he cruised to a convincing four-stroke triumph at the Houston Open on Sunday.

Finau's four-stroke lead was the same buffer he held coming into the final trip around Memorial Park Golf Course after posting rounds of 65, 62 and 68.

After winning back-to-back events in July at the 3M Open and the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Finau – who finished with a final-round score of 16 under – has now won more titles in his past seven starts than he did in his first 211 to begin his career (two).

Speaking to NBC after stepping off the final green, Finau admitted he was not comfortable in such an unfamiliar position with a giant lead.

"It feels great – honestly, on the first hole I didn't know if I had it in me today," he said. "It was one of those days where I just fought, and fought, and I made a lot of nice putts on the front-nine to calm me into things.

"I've never been in this position before, with that big of a lead with nine holes to play. A lot of new nerves, I would say, but overall as the round went on I felt better, and I'm just happy to get the 'W' today.

"I've always had belief, but the confidence when you win is contagious. I've always been a very hopeful person, I work extremely hard on my body and my game, and now I'm starting to bear the fruits of that labour. It feels amazing to have that be the case.

"You never know what's going to happen in this game, but you always try to put your best foot forward, that's what I've done over the years, and I'm starting to put together a pretty full-package game."

Alone in second place at 12 under was Tyson Alexander, who had never previously finished better than tied for 44th in his seven PGA Tour starts.

Ben Taylor was the only player at 11 under in third, and there was a further three-stroke gap to the rest of the field.

World number two Scottie Scheffler finished tied for ninth at six under for his second consecutive top-10 finish, while former world number one Jason Day was one further back.

Tony Finau was solid without being spectacular as he carded a two-under round on the third day at the Houston Open to maintain his four-stroke lead on Saturday.

Finau led by four shots at the halfway point after 10 birdies in Friday's eight-under 62, but the American kept it steady with a bogey-free round that included only two birdies at Memorial Park Golf Course on Saturday.

The main contenders, Patrick Rodgers and Alex Noren, both carded three-over 73s to drop well off the pace at six-under overall but Englishman Ben Taylor emerged into second on moving day.

Taylor looms as the only potential challenger for Finau (15-under overall) ahead of the final day, shooting six birdies in his five-under round-of-the-day 65 to move up the leaderboard into 11-under overall.

The Englishman buried a 21-foot closing birdie putt to finish the day on a high and keep the pressure on Finau.

Taylor is three strokes clear of the next best, with three players tied at eight under; Justin Rose, Wyndham Clark and Tyson Alexander. Gary Woodland and Joel Dahmen are seven under.

World number two Scottie Scheffler could not mount any kind of challenge, with a double bogey on the 16th hole followed by a bogey on the 18th leaving him with one-over 71 to be three-under overall.

Last year's Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama withdrew after nine holes on Saturday due to a neck injury but was not in contention.

Tony Finau enjoyed a spectacular second round at the Houston Open, shooting an eight-under 62 to open up a four-stroke lead on the chasing field heading into the weekend.

Finau was the joint-leader after the opening round, and he went even better in his second trip around Memorial Park Golf Course, sinking 10 birdies to go with two bogeys.

Fresh off his first PGA Tour season with multiple wins – including a career-high four top-two finishes – Finau is in prime position to make a run at his fifth title.

Alone in second at nine under is Patrick Rodgers, who followed his opening 68 with an impressive 63, as only he and Finau completed rounds of 63 or better before the weather arrived.

Joint-leader from the first round, Alex Noren is one further back at eight under, although he had three holes remaining when play was called off.

Noren is joined by Tyson Alexander, while China's Carl Yuan and America's James Hahn are the only players tied for fifth at seven under.

There is a seven-man logjam tied for seventh at six under, but Aaron Wise and Trey Mullinax will have their sights set higher before they begin their third rounds, with six holes still to play.

After a disappointing even-par 70 to open his week, world number two Scottie Scheffler is enjoying a five-under round through 13 holes, sinking an eagle on the par-five 12th right before his round was interrupted.

Former world number one Jason Day will likely see the weekend as he is tied for 37th at two under with six holes remaining, while his playing partner and former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama is one further back sitting right on the edge of the cut-line.

Tony Finau is one of four players with a share of the lead after finishing Thursday's opening round of the Houston Open with a five-under 65.

Finau is joined by fellow Americans Aaron Wise and Tyson Alexander, as well as Sweden's Alex Noren, although Alexander still has one hole to play as the late-starters had their rounds cut short when darkness halted the action.

Ranked 15th in the world, Finau caught fire on his second nine, posting five birdies from his final eight holes to fly up the leaderboard.

Canadian duo Taylor Pendrith and Mackenzie Hughes headline the logjam tied for fifth at four under, with England's Justin Rose part of the 10-player group one further back at three under.

It was a rough day out for the big names in the field, with world number two Scottie Scheffler and former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama shooting even-par 70s to finish the round tied for 53rd.

That pairing at least remain in the hunt, which is more than can be said for last week's winner of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, with Russell Henley struggling on his way to two over.

Another former Masters champion had a tough time, with Danny Willett unlikely to make the cut after his five-over 75, while world number 12 and recent Presidents Cup debutant Sam Burns had a day to forget, shooting seven over.

Jason Kokrak rallied with four consecutive birdies as a stellar back nine helped the American claim the Houston Open.

Kokrak carded a five-under-par 65 for an impressive two-shot victory and his third PGA Tour trophy at Memorial Park on Sunday.

The 36-year-old was two strokes behind with six holes to play before birdieing the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th to trump countrymen Kevin Tway (68) and overnight leader Scottie Scheffler (69) to glory.

"Very blessed to be standing here," Kokrak said afterwards in Houston, where he found himself 10 shots adrift after two rounds.

Kokrak, who went 232 starts before his first PGA Tour victory, has now won three titles in his last 27 starts, dating back to October's CJ Cup.

"This win is very special. I was really struggling with my game at the beginning of this week," Kokrak added.

"But I was on the phone with my swing coach and worked on a few things and that worked really well. So, I have to thank him and my caddie, it was really tough at times out there."

Tway and Scheffler finished tied for second, while Kramer Hickok shot a final-round 69 to be outright fourth at seven under as Joel Dahmen (65) and Martin Trainer (70) ended the tournament a shot further back.

At the other end of the spectrum, former world number ones Adam Scott (73) and Jason Day (70) closed out the event at five over, two strokes better off than 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed (77).

Scottie Scheffler moved to the top of the leaderboard after a long but fruitful day at the Houston Open, taking a one-stroke lead into the final round. 

After Friday's second round was halted due to darkness, players had to return to the course early Saturday to finish before starting the third. 

Scheffler wrapped up the second round by setting a course record with an eight-under-par 62, then carded a 69 in round three to take the overall lead at seven under for the tournament. 

The American has held or shared the lead after 54 holes only once before, at the 2020 American Express, where he finished third. 

Martin Trainer moved to the top of the Houston Open summit before play was again cut short due to darkness.

Like the opening round, players were forced from the field in Houston as fading light brought a premature end to Friday's second round.

Trainer managed to complete his second 18 holes and found himself in rare territory, a stroke clear at Memorial Park.

Back-to-back 65s left the 2019 Puerto Rico Open champion atop the leaderboard, with a number of players yet to finish their rounds as the PGA Tour tournament continues to play catchup.

"Last week I hit the ball really well for the first time in a long time and I just didn't putt very well," said Trainer, who had one made cut in his last 18 starts entering the event.

"So I figured if I could somehow do both those at the same time -- to be fair, every single player says that every single week. But for me, it had been such a long time coming. It really was a grind for a long time.

"So now to finally be able to put it together ... you have to hope that this is the week."

Fellow American Kevin Tway ended the day a shot behind Trainer, while Jason Kokrak was on track to seize the lead at eight through 11 holes.

The second round will be completed on Saturday and Brooks Koepka is set to miss the cut for the second consecutive week.

Four-time major champion Koepka shot a second-round 72 to be three over, below the projected cut of one over.

Marc Leishman is in a four-way tie for the Houston Open lead following an interrupted start at the PGA Tour event.

Play was suspended due to darkness on Thursday, with a number of players yet to complete their opening rounds in Houston.

Leishman – making his first Houston Open start since 2013 – got through his 18 holes and the Australian star carded a five-under-par 65 at Memorial Park Municipal Golf Course.

Russell Henley – winner of the tournament in 2017, Talor Gooch and Luke List are also five under, though the latter was the only member of the quartet still to complete his round, having made it through 15 holes.

"Probably for about six months I feel like I've been playing OK, just not getting anything out of it," Leishman said. "It can be a crazy game, it can get you down and you can play really well and not have a good score and play mediocre golf and have a really good score.

"You have to try and not let that get to you. I think a fresh season, a new start was pretty good for me. Got me to knuckle down and just really focus and been playing some good golf."

Jason Dufner is one stroke off the pace heading into Friday, while Keith Mitchell, Ben Silverman, Jhonattan Vegas (through 13), Wyndham Clark (through 13), Adam Long (through 11) and Martin Trainer (through 11) are a shot further back.

Former world number one Jason Day completed 11 holes to be even par before play was cut short, alongside four-time major champion Brooks Koepka (through nine).