Justin Rose started fast then struggled home Saturday in the Texas heat.
Rose, who was four-under through his first six holes at Colonial Country Club, played even par the final 12 and takes a four-shot lead into Sunday’s final round of the Fort Worth Invitational.
“I’m happy with the way I played,” Rose said afterward. “I have struggled toward the end of my rounds, I was struggling with my concentration in that heat.”
Rose had a five-shot lead with three to play but three-putts from off the fringe at the par three 16th allowed Brooks Koepka and Emiliano Grillo to start the final 18 just four back of Rose, whose 66 go him to 14-under par through 54 holes.
The 2013 U.S. Open champ knows he’ll have to keep making birdies on Sunday. “I expect the chasing pack to go out there and play well,” Rose predicted. “I can’t shoot even par and expect to win.”
Brooks might have shared the lead had it not been for the par five 11th this week. He’s taken two double-bogeys there, including his second on Saturday.
“Eleven’s got my number,” Koepka lamented after his 67 got him to 10-under and earned him a spot in the final pairing Sunday with Rose. “Two doubles — I should be eatin’ it up. I dropped four shots there. You can’t have that out here.”
Grillo posted his 10-under after Koepka, putting him in the next-to-last group with Corey Conners, whose 63 was the day’s low round and got him to eight-under, in a group with Jon Rahm and three others. Rahm made his move with a 64.
