Two European Ryder Cup teammates will battle for the Gold Medal Sunday in the Rio Olympics.
Justin Rose rode of the momentum of a pair of front-nine eagles Saturday to shoot a six-under par 65 in windy conditions at the newly-constructed Olympic venue. He’s 12-under par and a single shot in front of Open champion Henrik Stenson.
“It was tough and the course setup was really tough, long and tough,” Rose said after shooting the second-best score of the day and the best among the players who teed off later. “It’s a moment you want to take advantage of,” he said, referring to a possible Gold Medal victory.
Stenson shot 68 and echoed Rose’s sentiments on the difficulty of the Gil Hanse design. “It was a tough afternoon, a couple of really long holes, a solid day for me, put me right back in contention. I gotta go out there and play al good round of golf if I want that (gold) medal tomorrow.
“We both want the same thing,” Stenson said of himself and Rose.
Second round leader Marcus Fraser of Australia, who was a birdie machine the first two days, only managed to make one in the third round. He shot 72 and fell back to nine-under par but is still in position to make it to the medal podium.
The only American who might have a chance at a medal Sunday is Bubba Watson. Watson shot 67 and it could have been better had it not been for a strange incident on the 14th hole. Watson had a 30-foot putt for birdie and appeared to chunk his putter and the ball moved just four feet. Later he explained:
“I’m gonna be a legend. Some mud came off the bottom of the putter, I tried to stop. It was hilarious, you gotta laugh it off and keep going.”
Watson walked off with bogey there and suffered another on the 15th but found birdie at the short par three 17th and finished six-under par, tied for fourth with Swede David Lingmerth and Emiliano Grillo, a PGA Tour rookie from Argentina.
Rickie Fowler went out early and had his best showing of the week — a seven-under par 64 — low round of the day. It jumped him into a tie for 14th. Matt Kuchar shot 69 and was tied for seventh, but he’ll need a low round Sunday to win a medal.
Patrick Reed’s 73 dropped him into a tie for 36th at one-over par.
