Rose blooms at Colonial

Justin Rose closed with a 6-under 64 yesterday to finish at 20 under at Colonial for a 3-stroke victory over defending U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka in the Fort Worth Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas.

It was the ninth career PGA Tour victory for Rose, the 37-year-old Englishman and No. 5 player in the world who also won his 2017-18 season debut in October at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai.

Koepka shot 63 after starting 4 strokes behind Rose in the final group. Emiliano Grillo had a 64 to finish third at 16-under.

While Rose missed matching Zach Johnson’s 2010 tournament scoring record of 259 because of a bogey on the 72nd hole, first-round leader Kevin Na matched the course record with a 61 and finished fourth at 14-under. Jon Rahm shot 68 and was tied for fifth at 10-under with Louis Oosthuizen (68) and Kevin Tway (67).

The win at Colonial, the longest-running PGA Tour event still played at its original site (since 1946), adds to an impressive list of traditional courses where Rose has won.

Rose got his first PGA Tour win at Muirfield Village in the 2010 Memorial, and won the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion. His 11 international victories include the 2014 Scottish Open at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, and the 2007 Volvo Masters at Valderrama in Spain.

Jordan Spieth made a short birdie at No. 18 for a 68 to finish 5-under and tied for 32nd at Colonial. He had a win and two runner-up finishes here the past three years. The No. 3 player in the world has played in 20 PGA Tour events since his last win, at the British Open last summer.

Broadhurst a champ

Paul Broadhurst shot an 8-under 63 to win the Senior PGA Championship by 4 strokes and match the best 72-hole score in tournament history.

The 52-year-old Englishman finished at 19-under 265 at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich., for his second senior major victory. The 63 was the best fourth-round score by a winner. Rocco Mediate also shot 19-under at Harbor Shores in 2016.

Also the 2016 British Senior Open winner, Broadhurst led the field with 26 birdies and passed thirdround leader Tim Petrovic and Mark McCarron with a 4-under 31 on the back nine.

Petrovic was second after a 69. McCarron had a 70 to tie for third at 14-under with Jerry Kelly (65).

Broadhurst earned a career-high $585,000 for his fourth PGA Tour Champions victory. He won six times on the European Tour and has three European Senior Tour victories.

Molinari prevails

Rory McIlroy made his victory charge too late as Francesco Molinari delivered a clinic in front-running to win the BMW PGA Championship in Virginia Water, England, by 2 shots with a 4-under 68.

McIlroy, who led by 3 shots after two rounds, entered the day tied for the lead with Molinari at 13-under but a shootout at the European Tour’s flagship event never materialized.

Instead, as McIlroy toiled to a 70 propped up by birdies on the par 5s at Nos. 17 and 18, Molinari went bogeyfree for a second straight day to claim the fifth victory of his career and the biggest since a World Golf Championship in Shanghai in 2010. The Italian only dropped 2 shots all week and finished at 17-under 271.

Alex Noren (67) and Lucas Bjerregaard (65) were tied for third place a stroke further back.

Lee’s birdie does it

Minjee Lee birdied the 18th hole for a 1-stroke win over In-Kyung Kim at the LPGA Volvik Championship in Ann Arbor. Mich.

Lee, who turned 22 yesterday, 3-putted for a bogey on No. 17, dropping into a tie with Kim and needed the birdie to win.