PGA TOUR Release – May 26, 2018: Justin Rose would’ve made Ben Hogan proud in his second-round 64 at the Fort Worth Invitational. Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma sailed in opposite directions on Friday – the former endured a 74 while the latter fought his way back from the bottom with a fighting 68.
Anirban made a rousing start on Thursday, but there was no such joy in the second round. He quickly started bleeding strokes, taking bogeys at 10, 14 & 15. Anirban made the turn in 36, and quickly made amends with a birdie at the first hole.
But two more bogeys at the 4th and 8th meant that he had given away most of the gains from a brilliant 67 in the first round. Anirban ended the day at one over 131.
Shubhankar was facing some music as he started the week with a 73 on Thursday. He played well to rescue himself from the looming threat of the cut, with a well made 68 on Friday.
Rose hit 14 of his first 15 greens Friday and made seven birdies to take the lead after the morning wave completed play. He went low despite making just one putt outside of 10 feet. He is at 10-under 130, with a one-shot advantage over Emiliano Grillo and three shots ahead of Brooks Koepka and RBC Heritage winner Satoshi Kodaira.
Hogan is considered by many to be the best ball-striker in the game’s history, and his presence is strong at Colonial. He won five times at the course that was founded by his mentor and good friend, Marvin Leonard. The clubhouse contains a re-creation of his office and a small museum dedicated to his World Golf Hall of Fame career. A 7-foot-tall statue of him staring down another well-struck shot overlooks the course, as well.
Hogan is one of the inspirations for Rose’s longtime swing coach, Sean Foley. The pair put in a solid week of work last week, Rose said, and he added the Fort Worth Invitational to his schedule to gauge the state of his game after being unhappy with his recent form.
Rose finished in the top 10 in 13 of 15 starts from last year’s FedExCup Playoffs to the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in March. He finished 52nd in the Houston Open, 12th in the Masters and 23rd at THE PLAYERS, though. Rose started the final round at TPC Sawgrass in 55th place, but started to see positive signs after a final-round 66.
“Sunday at The PLAYERS Championship, I felt like I worked into a slightly different feel, which really helped Sean and I kind of dial in a few things we’ve been working on. We had a good productive week last week training-wise,” Rose said. “It was nice to bring as good as you feel on the range to the tournament this week.”
He hit his first 13 greens Friday. Eleven of those approach shots were within 16 feet of the hole. A pep talk from his caddie helped him keep his frustration at bay after missing three short birdie putts on his first four holes. He birdied five of his next seven holes.
“He said, ‘Hey mate, just stay patient.’ From there, I got into a nice rhythm,” Rose said. “My first 15 holes today were about as good as I’ve played in a long time.”
He did miss four of his last five greens, but has still hit 30 of 36 through two rounds. And he played Friday’s final five holes in 1 under par after holing a 35-foot birdie putt on 6 and chipping in on 7. He has made just two bogeys this week.
Rose leads the field in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and is third in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. He also leads the field in greens in regulation.
Rose is trying to become the fifth multiple winner this season; Justin Thomas, Jason Day, Bubba Watson and Patton Kizzire have all won twice in 2017-18. Rose is 11th in this season’s FedExCup standings. He could rise as high as No. 2 with a victory.
NOTABLES
Brooks Koepka shot his second 63 in his past three rounds. He matched the TPC Sawgrass course record in the final round of THE PLAYERS, including an albatross on the 16th hole, then made eight birdies Friday at Colonial. He is 7 under par after 36 holes (70-63). This is Koepka’s fourth start since he missed nearly four months because of a wrist injury. Koepka, who finished 11th at THE PLAYERS, is making his debut at this event, as well. He was 3 over par after 13 holes Thursday, but made 11 birdies in his next 23 holes. “I don’t care how many over or how many under I am. I’m still going to fight through it,” Koepka said.
Emiliano Grillo had to play through the unpredictable wind gusts that blew through Colonial on Friday afternoon, but he was able to shoot a 3-under 67 to earn a spot with Rose in Saturday’s final group. Grillo is at 9-under 131 after shooting 64-67. Friday’s round included a six-hole stretch where he failed to record a par (three birdies, three bogeys). It’s the continuation of a solid season for the player who won the 2015 Web.com Tour Championship and Safeway Open in back-to-back weeks.
Grillo is seeking his first victory since winning in his debut as a PGA TOUR member. He has made 15 of 16 cuts this season, including four top-10 finishes. He is 44th in the FedExCup. Grillo credits his strong play to a switch six months ago to instructor Hernan Rey. It was Rey who convinced Grillo to switch to the cross-handed putting method. It’s working this week, as Grillo leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting (+7.68).
There’s a high correlation between success at the RBC Heritage and Fort Worth Invitational. Both courses demand proper placement over power. Kodaira is proving that this week. The RBC Heritage champion is in contention for his second win in his last four PGA TOUR starts. He shot 3-under 67 on Friday and is at 7-under 133. He holed a 3-iron from 234 yards for an albatross on the first hole Thursday. Kodaira, who became a TOUR member after winning the Heritage, is No. 53 in the FedExCup.
The winners of the last two PGA TOUR events – Aaron Wise and Webb Simpson – both shot 70-73 and missed the cut. Wise won last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson, while Simpson was making his first start since winning THE PLAYERS.
Beau Hossler is in sixth place after shooting 64-71. It’s the ninth time in 20 starts this season that Hossler has been in the top 10 at the start of a weekend round. The first-year TOUR player is 39th in the FedExCup thanks to three top-10s, including a runner-up in the Houston Open.
Jordan Spieth birdied the 18th hole to shoot 68. He is at 3-under 137 (69-68). Spieth has never finished worse than T14 in five starts at Colonial. He has two runners-up and a victory (2016) in the past three years. He will start Saturday in 23rd place.
