Rose on fire with six stroke lead

Red hot Justin Rose fired seven birdies to take a huge six-shot lead with a massive 21-under total at the Farmers Insurance Open golf championship.

It was another dominant display on Torrey Pines’ formidable South Course for the 45-year-old Englishman, his four-under par 68 round putting his virtually out of anyone’s reach.

Rose notched four birdies on a flawless front nine, including three in a row from the fifth, then mixed three more with three bogeys in the back nine.

He will now be chasing Tiger Woods record eight stroke win at the Open. Woods is tied with three others in the tournament for the largest margin of victory of eight strokes.

Rose had also won this tournament with a score of 21 under back in 2019, finishing two strokes clear of Adam Scott.

The best winning score in the history of the Open is the 22 under achieved by Woods in 1999 and George Burns in 1987, with Rose poised to shatter it.

Rose is also seeking his 13th Tour title, that would extend the record as the most by a player from England.

The 2016 Olympic gold medalist featured in two high-profile playoffs last season – won the first event defeating J.J. Spaun at the St. Jude Championship but was defeated by Rory McIlroy at the Masters Tournament.

USA’s Joel Dahmen is a distance second on 15 under after matching Rose’s four-under Saturday, with Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune and South Korea’s Si Woo Kim in a tie for third place on 13 under, some eight shots off the leader.

The round of the day belonged to Germany’s Stephan Jaeger, whose seven-under 65 propelled him 39 places up the leaderboard to joint sixth on 11 under, with Ireland’s Seamus Power on the same total after four bogeys in his last seven holes.

Dahmen, the 2021 Corales Puntacana winner, is seeking a second Tour title that looks highly unlikely unless Rose blows up his final round.

Hisatsune looks to improve his best Tour result while Kim Si Woo is also looking for his best result in eight previous starts at the Farmers Insurance Open, his best at T11/ four years ago.

Defending champion Harris English (T20/-8) posted a third-round 67, one stroke shy of his low 18-hole score at the Open.

Making his first start in a non-major on the PGA TOUR since the 2022 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play via the Returning Member Program, Brooks Koepka is tied-61 at two-under posting a 1-over 73.

Third-Round Leaderboard