England’s Justin Rose might be too far ahead for the rest of the golfers in the Farmers Insurance Open to catch up.
Rose shot a 4-under-par 68 on Saturday in the third round to carry a six-stroke lead into the final round in San Diego.
Despite three bogeys on the Torrey Pines South Course’s back nine, Rose enters Sunday’s play at 21-under 195 for the tournament.
Joel Dahmen also posted a 68, putting him in second place. Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune (68) and South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (69) share third place at 13 under. Max McGreevy (71) is next at 12 under.
“If Justin makes his tee time and continues to play this way, he’s going to win the golf tournament,” Dahmen said. “He’s just playing too well.”
Rose is looking for his second title at Torrey Pines, where he won in 2019 with a 21-under score.
On Saturday, Rose was 4 under through seven holes and added a birdie on No. 10 before a pair of bogeys. His birdie on the 13th hole got him back on track, while he finished the round with a birdie putt from about 3 1/2 feet on the par-5 18th.
“I played well, gave myself a lot of chances,” Rose said after the round. “In some ways, yeah, you walk off thinking maybe it could have been lower, you know. You never want to say that after a 68 at Torrey or obviously being in the position that I’m in, but yeah I played really, really well today.”
Maverick McNealy (70), Germany’s Stephan Jaeger (65) and Ireland’s Seamus Power (74) are at 11 under.
Jaeger had the best round of the day with all pars and birdies. Defending champion Harris English recorded a 67 and sits tied for 20th at 8 under through three rounds.
“Happy to turn around and have a really nice round,” Jaeger said.
Jaeger had only one birdie Friday. He said he adjusted his putting grip and that paid off.
“I think I’m going to try them again (Sunday),” he said. “I putted really nicely today so it’s going to stay for a while.”
The next-best rounds of 4 under were turned in by Adam Schenk and Keith Mitchell — both at 9 under — along with Australia’s Jason Day, Rose, Hisatsune and Dahmen.
Brooks Koepka, in his first tournament since defecting from the LIV Golf ranks, won’t factor in the final round after posting his second 73 of the tournament during an erratic round. He’s at 2 under and tied for 61st.
Koepka said he was nervous upon making his return. Now playing on the weekend, he’s relieved regarding the reception he has received.
“It has been phenomenal,” Koepka said. “It has been overwhelming. It has been very cool. I don’t know what I expected, but this is beyond what I could have dreamed of.”
Chris Gotterup, who won the season-opening Sony Open a couple of weekends ago, said golfers are anxious to find positives early in the schedule.
“All of us want to get off to good starts (to the season),” he said.
Gotterup shot 70 for the second straight day and is tied for 20th at 8 under, but he said the course is offering a fair yet challenging test.
“You have to be in the fairway, you have to be in the right spots on the greens,” Gotterup said. “Whoever wins this week is going to earn it.”
–Field Level Media
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