BMW Championship 2018: Justin Rose leads star-studded chasing pack ahead of final round
Rose carded a third-round 64 to hold a one-shot advantage over Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele
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Your support makes all the difference.When the torrential overnight rain finally and mercifully relented here at Aronimink what was left was no longer a golf course that could be got at, but one that had rolled over to have its belly tickled.
Weather has been a recurring theme all week in Philadelphia with sweltering temperatures baking the field on Thursday before Friday’s second round was shifted four hours early to avoid yet more inclement conditions. Even the NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles weren’t immune with their home opener delayed by a particularly tasty electrical storm.
Nearly two-and-a-half inches fell overnight to soften up an already player-friendly layout that had already yielded four scores of 62 over the opening two days. More rain is forecast that could yet see a Monday finish to this penultimate FedEx Cup Playoff, but as tournament organisers peered anxiously at their radars the best 70 players in the world made hay.
A scoring average that was already more than a couple of strokes better than par plummeted as the combination of soft greens, no wind and charitable pins came together for some relentless scoring. Only 10 shots were dropped by the top 14 players combined.
Tommy Fleetwood was the best of the bunch taking no prisoners on his way to an eight-under low round of the day, a scarcely comprehendible second consecutive 62 in as many days. For context, there have only been 10 sub-60 scores in PGA Tour history. That he still trails by two says it all.
That lead is held by Justin Rose overnight, who heads into the final 18 –17, the Englishman’s impressive 64 coming in large part to a blistering opening nine of 29. Overnight leader Xander Schauffele’s solid if unspectacular 67 keeps him one shy while Rory McIlroy, Rose’s Ryder Cup teammate, joins them after a rollercoaster 63 threw the first round leader firmly back into contention.
“Obviously it was a good day today,” he said afterwards. “It was a day where I maybe didn't feel like I actually played that well, to be honest with you but a good day of scoring. Going on the front-nine I managed to take advantage of all the holes where I had wedges in my hand and just made a couple of putts here and there and then it felt like tomorrow's weather was just beginning to come in towards the end of the round.
“Playing the last couple holes it was about just get into the clubhouse, really. All the damage for me was on the front-nine.”
Rose, who likes this small corner of Pennsylvania rather a lot after winning the 2013 US Open just eight miles down the road at Merion and triumphing at the Quicken Loans National here in 2010 too, put together another blemish-free round backing up a bogey-less Friday. His last dropped shot came 53 holes ago on his first very first hole of the week.
He picked up another shot on the field at the fiendishly difficult eighth before rounding out his front-nine with a further birdie at nine. A wayward drive on the reachable par 5 16thcost him a chance to extend his advantage and then a pull on 17, his worst shot of the day, was followed by his best, an exquisite chip from deep rough, to keep him pat. Schauffele capitalised after falling behind his playing partner early with a timely birdie and will join him in the final group on Sunday hoping to convert after a series of near misses on tour this year.
McIlroy had threatened to keep pace with Rose or even surpass him early on but the momentum of four front-nine birdies was checked by an ugly double at the eighth. An eagle at nine saw him claw both strokes back immediately, however, and three further birdies coming home, including a 40-footer on 18, see him just one back.
“I hit more fairways again today and I putted better,” he said afterwards. “ I think I lost three strokes on the greens yesterday and I missed a couple of short ones. Today I holed the putts that I needed to and I hit more fairways and gave myself opportunities.
“It was a weird day. They put a lot of the tees up and the conditions were very wet. But if you didn’t shoot a 65 you were losing ground. It was one of those days where you had to stay aggressive.”
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