San Diego — Joel Dahmen Arriving too late to watch the PGA Tour Tiger Woods At its peak in Torrey Pines. He was witness to what could have been the next best thing on Saturday — justin rose In taking control of his game and making the rest of the field feel hopeless at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Rose extended his lead to eight shots, a performance Woods could appreciate. A few mistakes on the back nine slowed his pace and he took the lead by six with a score of 4-under 68, his largest 54-hole lead in the tournament since Woods led eight holes in 2008.
Rose said, “I’ve enjoyed playing on the golf course this week. I want to continue to enjoy it all week long.” “And yes, it’s another great round in good weather on an amazing golf course.”
Rose started with a four-shot lead and proceeded with spectacular three-hole birdies on the front nine – a pitching wedge to 6 feet back to the pin on No. 5, a 7-wood to pin-high on the par-5 sixth and a 9-iron over a tree to 5 feet to the pin resting just above a bunker.
“She hit a few pins that impressed me, but then they went to 4 feet and she tapped it in for birdie,” Dahmen said. “When you’re doing that you know you’re playing really well. And it was kind of one after another.”
But the seventh hole caught his attention, even if Rose sheepishly admitted he wasn’t trying to be that aggressive.
“There’s no way to miss it,” Dahmen said. “It’s got to be windy coming down that valley there, so it always lasts a long time. So he’s got to hit it over the tree with the first cut – it could go flying, dead – and he hits this thing over the moon, it comes down to 4 feet.
“You don’t hit those shots in a practice round, you can’t just give them up on a Saturday when you have a six or seven shot lead,” he said. “At that point, it was like, ‘Okay, you won.'”
Rose was at 21-under 195, breaking the 54-hole tournament record he set in 2019 by three shots, also sharing the mark kyle stanley (2012), Woods (2008) and woody blackburn (1985). Stanley is the only player who could not win after losing a five-shot lead.
Rose has been around so long that he is not taking anything for granted. and he was the beneficiary of dustin johnsonThe No. 1 player in the world at the time, lost a six-shot lead at the 2017 HSBC Champions.
“There will never be any satisfaction,” Rose said. “I think you always have enough respect for the game of golf in your mind that you have to do everything right tomorrow. You have to come out, stay focused, play well.”
With eight professional wins, including the US Open, Woods practically owned the public courses in the Pacific.
brooks koepkaIn his return to the PGA Tour from Saudi-funded LIV Golf, he played a solid round except for short putts. He converted a 3-foot par putt into a double bogey on the par-3 11th, and his 3-foot birdie putt into a bogey on the par-5 ninth, his final hole. He missed six putts to within 5 feet and shot 73.
“I never felt comfortable on Poa [bluegrass]. You just miss a few and your confidence goes to zero,” he said. “I still tried to be aggressive and take break outs like I normally do, but I wasn’t able to hit the hole as well. I don’t know, I’ll just chalk it up to a bad day. But I’m happy with everything else.”
is it over?
“My only hope is if [Rose] Doesn’t set his alarm or maybe he starts hitting the rough on the back nine somehow,” Dahmen said after his 68, which put him six back of the lead in B-Flight. ”I do not know. The way he’s playing and what he’s doing, I’d be happy with second place.”
It’s a big week for Dahmen, who fell out of the FedEx Cup top 100 the year the tour made the cutoff for a full card. They have conditional status and only joined the Farmers Insurance Open due to the large field allowed for two courses.
They also have a sponsor exemption into the WM Phoenix Open next week, so it’s a good time to help turn their fortunes around. A strong Sunday will do wonders.
Meanwhile, Rose continues to enjoy what he once called “Indian Summer”.
At age 45, he was the oldest player on Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team by seven years. Even if asked – if Luke Donald refuses a third captaincy – Rose said last week his focus would be on playing in the 2027 Ryder Cup.
A win will take him to number four in the world rankings.
“Justin is really good at golf right now,” Dahmen said.
