Justin Rose of England built a three-stroke lead over David Lingmerth of Sweden and Francesco Molinari of Italy heading into the final round of the Memorial Tournament by posting a 6-under-par 66 on Saturday at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.
Rose, who captured the 2010 Memorial, birdied four of the first seven holes and after taking his only bogey of the round at No. 9 and added three more birdies on the back nine, one with a 26-foot putt on the 14th hole.
“(A second-round 67) kind of made me feel that there’s no panic, there’s no rush, you don’t have to force anything, just let it come to me,” said Rose, who captured the Zurich Classic of New Orleans earlier this year for his seventh PGA Tour victory.
“And that’s the kind of round I played today. I didn’t force any hole. I didn’t force any shot. But I hit the right shot at the right time which helped me build the score.
” … I felt excited about the Memorial and the U.S. Open in two weeks at Chambers Bay). I felt excited about these weeks.”
Molinari, who has eight victories around the world but none in the United States, carded three straight birdies through No. 9 but made a bogey on the 16th hole on his way to a 69.
Lingmerth, who shared the 36-hole lead with Jason Dufner and is bidding for his first PGA Tour victory, sank a 30-foot eagle putt on the seventh hole but had a double-bogey 6 at No. 14 and needed two birdies on the last four holes to salvage a 72.
“I started missing a couple of shots and just kind of lost focus,” said Lingmerth, whose only pro victory came in the Neediest Kids Championship on the Web.com Tour. “I got down on myself a little bit and I got a little frustrated.
“Fortunately, though, I was able to turn it around here a little bit in the end.”
Jim Furyk, who won the 2002 Memorial, sank a six-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole and posted a 70 that left him four shots back in solo fourth.
Defending champion Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, who shared the first-round lead with a 64, shot a 71 and was another stroke back in a tie for fifth with Kevin Streelman, who had a 65 that included six birdies on the front nine, Brendon Todd (71) and Andy Sullivan (72) of England.
Keegan Bradley bogeyed the first hole but played flawlessly the rest of the way in a 65 that left him six shots behind in a tie for ninth that included Dufner, who struggled to a 74 with only two birdies.
Masters champion Jordan Spieth shot 72 and was tied for 24th. Phil Mickelson was tied for 63rd after a 78 and Tiger Woods was dead list among the 71 players who made the cut after posting an 85, his worst score as a pro.
