Justin Rose dropped a bomb of a putt at the 18th hole Saturday for 63 and grabbed a share of the lead with Jim Furyk at the WGC Bridgestone.
Furyk, who started the day with a four-shot lead, could do no better than one-under par 69 and both are in at nine-under through 54 holes.
It was a strong finish by Rose that caught Furyk. He birdied three of the four closing holes at Firestone, capped by the 35-foot putt at the home hole.
“Got a nice hot spell,” Rose said, describing his back nine. “Finishing strong got me into the tournament.”
He’s more than in it, he’s sharing the top spot, two clear of Shane Lowry at seven-under.
Steve Bowditch tied Rose for low round of the day. His 63 got him into a group at five under par, including Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and Bubba Watson.
There would be no challenge from Jordan Spieth, Jason Day or Dustin Johnson, three players who had the firepower to move up the leader board. Spieth suffered a double-bogey at 18 and shot 72 to finish at even par. Fowler’s 70 left him eight back at one-under while Johnson had a horrible day, shooting 75 to fall back to one-over par.
