After all the fuss about clubs designed by a Formula One team, Justin Rose has finally found some pace. It would appear that McLarens can indeed turn a corner on grass.
As such, Rose has earned himself a shot in Sunday’s final lap at the PGA Championship, which is remarkable for a number of factors, not the least of which is how close he came to missing the halfway cut.
Lost amid the wider carnage of Friday was a chip-in eagle by the old swinger that bought his passage to the weekend, and he capitalised magnificently in his third loop, completed in just 65 strokes to reach two under par.
We ought to clarify one relevant point here – Aronimink Golf Club was far more amenable to its guests on Saturday, and especially those among the earliest starters, Rose included. Part of that was down to gentler breezes, but it would seem the PGA of America also heeded the harsh words of Scottie Scheffler, who savaged their ‘absurd’ pin positions.
The latest set-up was less draconian and Rose, for one, responded with more birdies in a front nine of 30 – five – than he had managed in the previous two rounds combined. Four of them came in succession from the third hole and another was drained via a sublime bunker recovery on the 13th, before his single blip of the day on the next hole.
The later starters were facing marginally tougher winds, so the score was likely to mimic its creator by ageing well. But the unknown was how far ahead the mark would be set with so many birdies taking flight.
Justin Rose surged up the leaderboard on moving day at the PGA Championship
The Englishman shot a third-round 65 strokes to reach two under par for the tournament
Of those still on the course, Rory McIlroy was having a fine time of it – he had improved by five strokes to four under with five to play.
But let’s stick with Rose a moment. After finishing 65th and 45th in his two starts since pivoting to new McLaren irons, we fairly queried the wisdom of a 45-year-old making the kind of change that rarely reaps quick rewards. It’s a theme that might be revisited as the summer develops.
And yet this was an impressive performance, particularly with the irons in his garish orange bag – Rose hit all bar two of the greens in regulation and within his hot streak of four birdies, none required a putt beyond 11 feet. The accuracy was sublime, but so too was the putting that salvaged three pars from outside four feet on the trickier back nine.
‘I played so poorly the last few weeks but I’m very confident (with the new irons),’ said Rose. ‘I’m very experienced, I’m very curious, I’m very detail oriented, so I won’t be doing anything stupid.
‘I know these things are great. I’ve worked really hard on the process so it was good to kind of play well today and see the evidence of that statistically. If you put a poor move on it, I don’t care what clubs you’re playing.’
He added: ‘I’m hoping the lead doesn’t stretch more than six or seven. That’s kind of what I’m kind of sitting here hoping for.
‘It’s such a bunched leaderboard this week. Even from day one, it was surprisingly bunched, with three under par leading and even par being like 35th or whatever it was. It kind of offered the opportunity to make a run today and get in the tournament. We’ll see how the leaderboard looks at the end of the day.’
The 45-year-old hit all bar two of the greens in regulation with sublime accuracy
Rory McIlroy, one of the later starters, was also enjoying an improved third round
The scoring potential of the day was evidenced by the matching 65s carded by Kristoffer Reitan and Chris Kirk, who each joined Rose on two under. Kirk briefly matched the overnight leaders of Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealey on four under, but doubled the last with a three-putt from 45 feet.
McIlroy’s improvements in the second and third rounds were illustrated by one superb moment on his front nine, when he drove the green of the sixth hole, a par four measuring 397 yards.
Having seemed incapable of keeping his tee shots within the state of Pennsylvania earlier in the week, he took aim at the green and flew a high draw to the front of the short grass before two-putting his way to birdie – one of four on his front nine.
A missed putt from four feet on the fourth was his only bogey through 14, with birdies on the 11th and 13th.
