May 27, 2018: Justin Rose made 66 in the third round of Fort Worth Invitational, building up a four stroke cushion into the final round at the Colonial Country Club. Shubhankar Sharma, improving every step this week, made a big move on Saturday, climbing to T38 with a 66 of his own. Anirban Lahiri recovered from his second round blip with a fighting 68 in the third round.
Rose made a hat-trick of birdies to start his run, adding another at the sixth hole to cushion his comfort at the top of the leaderboard. A fifth birdie came at the 11th hole, but it was negated by the lone bogey of his round, at the par-3 16th hole.
“It’s a big lead, but it isn’t big enough,” Rose said. “You have to continue making birdies and keep going forward.”
Brooks Koepka (67) and Emiliano Grillo (69) ganged up for a final round assault, lurking four strokes behind Rose at 10-under 200.
Corey Connors soared 38 spots to T4 with a brilliant 63, while Ted Potter Jr. (T9) climbed up 42 spots on the back of his 63. The two men scored the low rounds on Saturday.
Jon Rahm and Louis Oosthuizen rose 30 spots on the leaderboard with similar scores of 64.
Indian golfers mount a fightback
Having struggled hard to make the weekend, Shubhankar seems to have set his mind on a good finish. After starting the week with a 73, he has progressively bettered his scores, adding 68 and 66 since then.
On Saturday, Shubhankar got off to a fine start – birdies at 1, 3 & 5 helping him set the tone for a strong round. The 40 footer that he made on the fifth hole should give the young man plenty of confidence going into the final round.
Shubhankar added birdies at 11 and 14, but conceded a late shot to end the day at three under 207.
Anirban was stung by a painful 74 in the second round. He was eager to make up some lost ground as he began the day with a birdie at the 565 yard par-5 first hole. Putter woes have been a recurring theme for the man from Bengaluru and the stiff stick was hurting him again as he conceded strokes at the fifth and twelfth holes.
But he has been scoring in bunches recently and Anirban produced birdies on three of the last five holes to end the day on a high, at 1-under 209.
PGA TOUR Notes
Low round: Corey Conners and Ted Potter Jr. both shot 7-under 63s. Conners is in fourth place at 8 under par for the tournament. Potter is one shot back.
Longest drive: Bryson DeChambeau hit a 370-yarder on the 14th hole. It was the longest drive of the day by seven yards. He shot 71 and is T31.
Longest putt: J.T. Poston holed one from 62 feet, 1 inch in Saturday’s 65. He will start the final round in fourth place.
Hardest hole: The 247-yard, par-3 fourth hole, which falls in the middle of the trio of holes termed the “Horrible Horseshoe” played to a 3.26 scoring average.
Easiest hole: The 551-yard, par-5 first hole played as the easiest hole for the third consecutive day. It’s 4.35 scoring average was the lowest of the week.
