Rose has second-round lead in Colonial

FORT WORTH, Texas — Justin Rose considered his first 15 holes in the second round at Colonial pretty flawless. The last three worked out OK, too, even with the only bogey for the leader of the Fort Worth Invitational.

“Last three holes got a bit scrappy,” Rose said after a 6-under-par 64 that got him to 10 under Friday at Hogan’s Alley.

After missing the green at the 422yard seventh hole, the Englishman chipped in from 16 feet for a birdie. He missed the green again at the par-3 eighth for a bogey. Then after his tee shot into the rough and an approach that just cleared the water fronting his final hole, the world’s fifth-ranked player two-putted for a closing par.

That was good enough for onestroke lead over Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo, whose 67 included six consecutive holes without a par. Defending U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka (63) and Satoshi Kodaira (67) were 7 under.

Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champ who won the HSBC Champions in Shanghai in his season debut last October and has four top-10 finishes, said he played “about as good as” he has overall in a long time. Things really got going after caddie Mark Fulcher offered a few words when Rose was a bit frustrated about a couple of missed putts while starting the round with four consecutive pars.

“Fulch kind of said, ‘Come on, mate. Stay with me. Stay patient.’ I got rewarded with the very next hole making a 10-footer for birdie,” Rose said. “I made enough good putts on the back nine today where I have some confidence going into the weekend.”

The birdie at the 457-yard 14th hole was the first of three consecutive birdies for the 37-year-old South African, who has eight PGA Tour wins.

Defending Colonial champion Kevin Kisner was even after a 68 on Friday. Jordan Spieth, one of the locals and No. 3 in the world, also shot 68 and is 3 under.

Aaron Wise, the 21-year-old rookie coming off his first PGA Tour victory a week ago at the Byron Nelson, missed the cut after a 73 left him 3 over.