Fort Worth, Texas: Justin Rose birdied his first three holes on the way to a third-round four-under-par 66 on Saturday to take a four-stroke lead at the Fort Worth Invitational in Texas.
Rose, the world No. 5, is on 14-under and leads Brooks Koepka (67) and Emiliano Grillo (69), who are both 10-under par.
Koepka appeared poised to challenge for the lead but ran into trouble on the par-five 11th with a costly double bogey.
Louis Oosthuizen, Jon Rahm, Ryan Armour, Corey Conners and J.T. Poston are all tied for fourth at eight-under par.
“I’m happy with the way I played,” Rose told CBS Sports.
“It was nice to get going and to build up that lead. No one seemed to do too much behind me today so I felt like it was in my hands to get as far ahead as I could.”
The only blemish on his scorecard was a bogey on the par-three 16th on another sweltering day in Texas.
Rose managed to stay composed down the stretch but admitted the heat was a significant challenge.
“I struggled toward the end,” he said.
“It was so hot out there I really felt I was battling the golf course and my concentration.
“It was tough to finish it off in that heat today but all in all, happy to be in the clubhouse. A good day’s work.”
The 2013 US Open champion Rose will be paired on Sunday with Koepka, who won the US Open last year.
“I don’t think I can just rest on my laurels and shoot even par tomorrow. I’ve got to go forward I think,” said Rose.
“I’m going to go out and just try to be doing what I’ve been doing that last few days and executing my shots and go from there.”