Recharged and ready
Rest pays off as Rose grabs lead
NORTON, Mass. — Justin Rose missed the cut in the FedEx Cup playoffs opener and decided to make the most of it. He stayed home in the Bahamas for six days, opting out of the proam and not arriving for the Dell Technologies Championship until the evening before Friday’s opening round.
Then he was off and running. On a breezy day that kept scoring unusually high at TPC Boston, Rose putted for birdie on all but two holes and made his six birdies count by keeping bogeys off his card. Three birdies over his last four holes gave him a 6-under-par 65 and a oneshot lead.
“Just keeping the card clean made the birdies really count for something,” Rose said. “To birdie three of the last four made a good day a very good day.”
Abraham Ancer and Russell Knox were one shot behind with strong finishes of their own, and Keegan Bradley, Beau Hossler, Chris Kirk and Gary Woodland were another stroke back in fourth.
PGA Tour rookie Keith Mitchell was tied for 70th after a 73, and fellow Baylor School graduate Luke List was tied for 89th at 76.
Tiger Woods wound up with a 72, the 10th time in his past 11 tournaments he didn’t break par in the opening round.
“I putted beautifully today, I really did,” Woods said. “I hit a lot of good putts and just have to give myself more looks out of them. I didn’t hit the ball close enough.”
Last week’s missed cut didn’t bother Rose too much. He still only slipped to No. 6 in the FedEx Cup standings.
Ancer and Knox missed that cut, too, but have no reason to relax after dropping to 92nd and 93rd, respectively. Only the top 70 advance to next week’s BMW Championship, the third phase of the four-stage playoffs.
Mitchell is 78th in the standings, while List is 31st. Only the top 30 after the BMW Championship make the season-ending Tour Championship at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club.
Jaeger in second
BEECHWOOD, Ohio — Kramer Hickok shot a 3-under 67 to maintain a one-stroke lead in the DAP Championship, the second of four Web.com Tour Finals events that will determine 25 PGA Tour cards.
One of 25 players who have already earned PGA Tour cards through the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list, Hickok birdied the final two holes at Canterbury Golf Club to reach 10-under 130. He matched the course record Thursday with a 63.
Chattanooga’s Stephan Jaeger — who played his rookie season on the PGA Tour this year and won the Web.com Tour’s Knoxville Open in May — was second after a 65.
“I made a couple of longer putts and hit a lot of greens,” said Jaeger, a native of Germany who starred at Baylor School and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
“Just solid overall. I can’t really pinpoint any aspect of my game that’s better than anything else. I’m driving the ball in the fairway, I’m hitting a lot of greens and making a few putts. Overall it’s just a solid couple of days.”
Sangmoon Bae was third at 8 under after a 63, and Cameron Champ had a 66 to match Ben Crane (66) and Matt Jones (64) at 7 under in fourth.
Athens, Tennessee, native Eric Axley (72) was tied for 40th at 2 under.
The series features the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list, Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup regular-season final standings and nonmembers with enough money to have placed in the top 200. Top-25 finishers on the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list are competing against each other for tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals. The other golfers are fighting for 25 cards based on series earnings.
Hall sets record
PORTLAND, Ore. — Georgia Hall shot a 9-under 63 to take a three-stroke lead in the Cambia Portland Classic and break the tournament’s 36-hole record.
The Women’s British Open winner four weeks ago for her first LPGA Tour title, the 22-year-old Englishwoman made five straight birdies in the middle of the back nine. She missed a chance to match the Columbia Edgewater Country Club course record of 62 when her long birdie try went to the right on the par-4 18th. Hall was at 15-under 129 overall.
Minjee Lee was second, following her opening 64 with a 68. Marina Alex, the first-round leader after tying the course record, had a late bogey in a 71 to fall into a tie for third with Megan Khang (65) at 11 under.
Olesen in position
AARHUS, Denmark — Thorbjorn Olesen was in a strong position to secure the final qualifying place on Europe’s Ryder Cup team despite barely making the cut at the Made In Denmark tournament.
Only a victory for Matthew Fitzpatrick or Eddie Pepperell would deny Olesen the last automatic spot via the world points list, but both were far off the lead after the second round at Silkeborg Ry Golf Club.
Pepperell shot a 3-under 69 and was 5 under overall, eight strokes behind leader Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa. Fitzpatrick shot a 68 and was a stroke further back. Olesen shot a 69 and made the cut on the number at 2-under 142.
Jonathan Thomson (69) and Lee Westwood (65) were tied for second, two strokes behind Bezuidenhout.
Two share lead
CALGARY, Alberta — Miguel Angel Jimenez and Kirk Triplett each opened with a 6-under 64 to share the lead in the PGA Tour Champion’s Shaw Charity Classic.
Jimenez birdied five of the first six holes and eagled the par-5 11th at Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club. The 54-year-old has six victories on the 50-and-older tour, winning major titles this year in the Regions Tradition and the Senior British Open.
Triplett, 56 and the owner of six senior titles, dropped into the tie with a bogey on the par-4 17th.
Rod Spittle, competing in his final tour event at age 63, matched Joe Durant and Esteban Toledo at 66 in third.