BMW Championship 2018: Justin Rose Leads at 17 Under, Rory McIlroy 1 Stroke Back
Justin Rose has been a model of consistency through the first three rounds of the 2018 BMW Championship. His 64 on Saturday dropped his 54-hole total to 17-under par, good enough to hold a one-shot lead over Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele.
The biggest winner of the day was Tommy Fleetwood, who posted his second consecutive 62. He jumped up 16 spots on the leaderboard and is currently two shots off the pace with 18 holes left to play.
Here are the current standings heading into Sunday's final round from Aronimink Golf Club in Newton Square, Pennsylvania:
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T1. Justin Rose (-17)
T2. Xander Schauffele (-16)
T4. Rickie Fowler (-15)
Rose started the tournament with a 66 Thursday and has only gotten better since. He did all of his damage in the third round on the front nine, hitting six birdies to make the turn with a 29 and sole possession of the lead:
Things would slow down for Rose from that point. The 38-year-old hit par on each of his final nine holes, though that doesn't mean there wasn't any drama. He seemed likely to settle for a bogey on No. 17 before this save from the rough:
With the BMW Championship serving as the third leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs, Rose is peaking at the right time. After missing the cut at the Northern Trust, he finished second at the Dell Technologies Championship last week.
One more round of golf like he has posted the past two days will put Rose within shouting distance of Bryson DeChambeau atop the playoff standings.
There is a lot of heavy competition behind Rose that will make things difficult. McIlroy rebounded from a passable 69 in the second round with a seven-under 63. He missed an opportunity to put up a lower score with a double bogey on No. 8.
McIlroy was able to get those two shots back right away with this eagle from the fairway on No. 9:
This is already McIlroy's best tournament by score since he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March at 18-under par.
Low numbers have been a common theme all weekend in Pennsylvania, with the PGA Tour communications team offering this tidbit about the leaderboard:
Fleetwood put his name in that group thanks to an excellent back nine. He started well enough with three birdies before putting his foot on the gas. The England native had a run of five birdies in six holes from No. 11 through 16.
Dating back to the second round, Fleetwood is on a remarkable run that has put him in position to earn his first win on the PGA Tour:
Tiger Woods is still in contention, though he has a lot of work to do in the final round. He rebounded after Friday's even-par 70 with a bogey-free 66 that dropped his score to 12-under par.
Based on the number of low scores across the board in each of the past three days, there is the potential for a lot more movement up the standings from everyone directly in Rose's rearview mirror Sunday.
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