WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 2015: Leaderboard Scores, Highlights from Saturday

Friday's action at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational concluded with Jim Furyk atop the leaderboard, and that trend held true Saturday, even though Justin Rose joined him as a co-leader at nine under. 

Entering Sunday, Shane Lowry, Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter, Bubba Watson and Steven Bowditch trail Furyk and Rose by two, four, four, four and four shots, respectively: 

Furyk was hardly prolific Saturday, but he was able to play a steady round at one under in order to remain in contention alongside some of the big guns who shot up the leaderboard. 

Although it appeared as if his day was going to start off in less-than-spectacular fashion, Furyk used his putter to calm some nerves and save par on the first: 

All told, Furyk wound up making three birdies, including conversions on the second, eighth and 11th holes to help mitigate the ill effects of bogeys on No. 7 and No. 12. 

But according to Golf Channel's Justin Ray, history shows Furyk may actually be in trouble now that he occupies a share of the No. 1 perch entering Sunday:  

"I’m not sitting here answering questions about winning now, where had I not won at Hilton Head, we’d be talking about how many leads I took into Sunday and didn’t work out, and how long it’s been since I’ve won, and why haven’t I?" Furyk said Friday, according to GolfChannel.com's Will Gray. "It’s a refreshing conversation."

The real story of the day, though, was Rose, who tied the low score of the day with a bogey-free round of 63.   

Not only did Rose begin his third round in birdie-birdie fashion, but he also sprinkled in a birdie on eight and four more on the back nine in order to strike fear into Furyk. 

The 2013 U.S. Open winner's 38-foot birdie on No. 18 was among the day's most impressive shots, as the PGA Tour relayed on Twitter: 

According to PGA Tour Media, Rose's deft touch on the greens helped him make a break for the leaderboard's top spot: 

Rose commemorated his big day with a post on Instagram: 

However, Rose wasn't the lone passenger on the 63 train.

Australia's Bowditch throttled into contention by shooting seven under while recording eight birdies. A bogey on the par-four 13th represented the lone blemish on Bowditch's Saturday scorecard, per the PGA Tour:

By the time Bowditch's round concluded, he had made a 30-spot leap up the leaderboard. 

While Bowditch's week began with a three-over showing Thursday and a one-under effort Friday, his explosive and productive outing Saturday added an extra wrinkle of intrigue to Sunday's final round. 

Bubba Watson didn't turn many heads a day after shooting four under, but a one-under tally was enough to keep him within striking distance of Rose and Furyk. 

And in classic Bubba fashion, the lefty boomed his driver off the tee—with an absurd strike on the par-four ninth hole, stealing the show, per the PGA Tour:

However, Watson went on to bogey the ninth after he was unable to control the ball with similar efficiency around the green. 

The good news for Watson is he's familiar with making impressive late runs. According to Ray, Watson's six wins when trailing entering the final round are tied with Zach Johnson for the most since 2010. 

The other big note from Saturday's action revolved around Jordan Spieth. 

While Spieth was briefly tied for second place Friday, he tallied a round of two-over Saturday and dropped into a tie for 17th. According to the PGA Tour on Twitter, Spieth's round of 72 was the first time he finished in black figures since a one-over showing in the third round at the 2015 U.S. Open.

The 22-year-old closed out the front nine in shaky fashion by notching bogeys on the seventh and eighth holes, and similar struggles plagued him at two of the day's final three pins.

Though Spieth was able to birdie No. 17, a bogey on 16 and double-bogey on 18 sent him tumbling down the leaderboard and back to even par for the tournament.

Following the conclusion of his round, Spieth took to Twitter to discuss the difficult course conditions at Firestone Country Club in Akron: 

But just because Spieth is seemingly out of contention heading into Sunday doesn't mean the final round will be an exercise in futility for the two-time major champion. 

With the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits on tap for next week, Spieth can start to build some positive momentum with a strong showing while Rose and Furyk duke things out for a WGC-Bridgestone title.