Rose’s birdie binge good for share of lead
Justin Rose went 30 straight holes without making a birdie. He made up for it in a big way Saturday at the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio, with a 7-under-par 63 that gave him a share of the lead with Jim Furyk going into the final round.
Rose made birdie on the sixth hole of the opening round, went the last 12 holes without another, and then made 17 pars and one bogey on Friday. He started fast Saturday, and finished even better.
“I guess that shows it just evens out, really, if you can stay the course and stay patient, kind of believe that you’re going to get your run eventually,” Rose said. “Yesterday, I actually played really well. ... It just didn’t happen yesterday. But came into today with a belief that I was still playing well.”
The last bunch of birdies made for a quick change on the leaderboard. Rose was four shots behind with four holes to play when he made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 15th, hit wedge into 3 feet for birdie on the par-5 16th and closed out his best round ever at Firestone with a 40-foot birdie on the 18th.
Furyk finished with six straight pars, and he had to work for the last one. His tee shot landed in a sand-filled divot, and he punched it short of the green in the rough and then chipped long onto the fringe behind the flag. But he rolled in that 12-foot putt for par and a 69 to join Rose at 9-under 201.
They were two shots ahead of Shane Lowry of Ireland, who had a 67. PGA Tour: J.J. Henry birdied the final hole to take a one-point lead at the Barracuda Championship, the PGA Tour’s only event to use modified Stableford scoring.
Henry had a 41-point total at Montreux Golf and Country Club in Reno, scoring 17 points in the third round with nine birdies and a bogey. Players receive eight points for double eagle, five for eagle, two for birdie, zero for par, minus-one for bogey and minus-three for double bogey or worse.
David Toms and Sweden’s Jonas Blixt were tied for second. Former Stanford player Patrick Rodgers was fifth at 35 points after a 14-point day. Champions Tour: Miguel Angel Jimenez eagled the par-5 18th hole to match the course record of 9-under 61 and tie Colin Montgomerie for the second-round lead at the Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary, Alberta.