Rose shoots 66 to take 4-shot lead at Colonial
FORT WORTH, Texas – Justin Rose birdied the first three holes to quickly extend his lead at the Fort Worth Invitational and finished with a 4-under 66 on Saturday to take a four-stroke advantage into the final round at Colonial.
Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champion and Olympic gold medalist with eight PGA Tour victories, was 14 under. Emiliano Grillo, his playing partner, shot 69 and was at 10 under with Brooks Koepka, who had a 67.
After a two-putt birdie at the opening par 5, Rose had back-to-back birdie putts to get to 13 under. That put him four strokes ahead of Grillo, who had eight pars in a row before consecutive birdies on Nos. 9 and 10.
The closest Grillo got after the opening stretch was three strokes, when he was 11 under with an 8-foot birdie at No. 10. Rose regained his four-stroke edge with birdie at the 616-yard 11th hole, and his only bogey was at the 173-yard 16th, when the tee shot settled on the back fringe and he then missed a 5-foot par chance.
Rose has the largest 54-hole lead at the Hogan’s Alley since Kenny Perry led by seven in 2005 on way to his second decisive win in three years – he had a record eight-stroke lead for three rounds in 2003. The largest lead anyone had taken into the final round since had been two strokes, and that had happened only twice. Canadian rookie Corey Conners had eight birdies over his last 12 holes for a career-best round of 63 that matched Ted Potter Jr. for the best of the day.
LPGA Tour
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Minjee Lee shot a 4-under 68 to take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the LPGA Volvik Championship, with Stacy Lewis tied for second playing five months’ pregnant.
PGA Tour Champions
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. – 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.