Rose gets cushion with a fast start at Colonial
While Justin Rose felt good about his four-stroke lead after three rounds at Colonial, he wasn’t yet counting down the holes left in the Fort Worth Invitational.
“I think I’ve won and lost actually from four ahead, so I’ve got experience both ways,” Rose said after shooting a four-under-par 66 on Saturday to get to 14 under. “Just shows you can’t get ahead of yourself.”
The fifth-ranked Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champion and Olympic gold medalist with eight PGA Tour victories, led by four over playing partner Emiliano Grillo and defending U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka. Grillo shot 69 while Koepka had a 67.
On a steamy day in North Texas — with temperatures in the upper 90s and it feeling even warmer — Rose birdied the first three holes to quickly extend his lead from one to four over Grillo, who had eight pars in a row before consecutive birdies at Nos. 9 and 10.
Rose’s only bogey was at the 173-yard 16th, when his tee shot settled on the back fringe and he then missed a five-foot par chance.
Senior PGA
Scott McCarron, seeking a second senior major title to go with his 2017 Senior Players Championship, made his only bogey of the third round on the final hole to slip into a tie for the lead with Tim Petrovic in the Senior PGA Championship at Benton Harbor, Mich.
They were at 13 under par after Petrovic, seeking his first major, shot 65. McCarron has shared the lead through three rounds.
England’s Paul Broadhurst, the 2016 British Senior Open winner, matched the best third-round score in tournament history with a 64. He was at 11 under.
Miguel Angel Jimenez, coming off his first major championship last week at the Regions Tradition, shot 65 and was nine under.
European PGA
Francesco Molinari mastered the toughest conditions of the week at Wentworth to shoot a six-under 66 and share the lead with Rory McIlroy after three rounds of the BMW PGA Championship at Virginia Water, England.
Scoring was more difficult because of gusty winds and fast, firm greens at the West Course, but Molinari managed a bogey-free round featuring six birdies starting from the eighth hole.
The Italian made up five shots on McIlroy, who started the round with a three-stroke lead and needed birdies at the par-fives at Nos. 17 and 18 for a one-under 71 to keep at least a share of first place on 13-under 203.
It could be a two-way fight for the title at the European Tour’s flagship event, with their nearest challengers — defending champion Alex Noren (70), Sam Horsfield (72), Branden Grace (69) and Ross Fisher (68) — four shots back at nine under.
LPGA
Minjee Lee shot a fourunder 68 to take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the LPGA Volvik Championship at Ann Arbor, Mich., with Stacy Lewis tied for second playing five months’ pregnant.
Lee capped a bogey-free third round with a birdie on No. 18 to get to 12 under, and the Australian standout will try to celebrate her birthday with her first victory of the year. She turns 22 on Sunday.
Lewis (67) birdied five of the last six holes to match InKyung Kim (67), Jodi Ewart Shadoff (69) and Lindy Duncan (69) at 10 under. There were nine players within three strokes of Lee, who lost this tournament by one stroke last year.