THE rigours of life on tour, eh? Justin Rose stated that he has a bout of tendonitis. He also added that he may have a touch of “end-of-season-itis”. Whatever “itis” it is, it doesn’t seem to be doing the Englishman much harm.
After last weekend’s Shanghai surprise, where he came from eight shots behind to win the WGC-HSBC Champions in China, the 37-year-old went on something of a Turkey shoot here at the Regnum Carya resort yesterday and moved to within two shots of the lead heading into the closing round of the Turkish Airlines Open.
While overnight leader Nicolas Colsaerts saw his four-shot advantage evaporate with a 73 to allow the chasing pack to close in, Rose’s bid for back-to-back wins gathered pace and purpose with a seven-under 64 for a 12-under 201. That left him just two behind joint leaders, Shane Lowry who shot a 65 and Kiradech Aphib-arnrat after a 66.
If Rose can pull off a double whammy of wins, then Tommy Fleetwood, the current leader of the Race to Dubai rankings, may just begin peering over his shoulder a little bit more anxiously.
Fleetwood, who is back on a five-under tally, is still more than one million points ahead of his third-placed compatriot on the money list but Rose could bite a sizeable chunk out of that lead with victory today.
This particular golfing thoroughbred is very much the form horse.
“I’m backing myself to play well when I do play,” said Rose, who is not playing in South Africa next week but will return for the season-ending showdown in Dubai. “If you’re playing catch up, you need to play well, but you can’t really afford the mistakes either. It’s a real mix between being positive and being disciplined.”
Rose was certainly that yesterday as he barged his way up the order with a classy display that was illuminated by four birdies in a row from the 12th.
“Tommy’s got such a big lead in the rankings and I can’t really catch him by playing average golf,” added Rose. “So that makes my job pretty easy.”
Lowry, who is aiming for his first win since 2015, came from six strokes behind at the start of the day and into a share of the lead with his six-birdie 65.
“It’s been a while since I’ve won,” conceded the Irishman. “But hopefully something comes flooding back to me and I manage to get the job done.”
Lowry’s countryman, Padraig Harrington, got in on the low scoring act and raced to the turn in 29 en route to a sprightly 64 which left him in a tie for third with Rose and the mis-firing Colsaerts, whose round unravelled with four dropped shots in five holes from the 11th. Harrington’s round featured just 21 putts.
“I did putt well but four or five of those putts were from the fringe of the green,” he said of one of those days when everything seemed to drop.
Stephen Gallacher kept himself clinging to the coat tails of the leaders with a steady 69 to finish the day in a share of seventh and four strokes off the top with a 203.
“That’s the thing with this game,” said the Scot, who dropped his first shot of the week at the 10th. “Rosey came from eight behind to win in China last weekend. There’s a 63 out there. I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing and hope it all comes together on the last day.”
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