Rose three clear at Memorial

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Justin Rose took a big step towards his second Memorial title after firing a third-round 66 to hold a three-shot advantage heading into the final day at Muirfield Village.

While Rose was making waves at the top of the leaderboard as he progressed to 15-under, it’s the man at the bottom who stole many of the headlines, with Tiger Woods ending the day stone last after a round of 85 – the worst of his professional career – which finds him 27 shots off the pace.

It seemed that an 82 at the Phoenix Open in January was as bad as it could get for Woods, but the former number one endured another round to forget on Saturday. Woods was already six-over by the time he took the turn, with bogeys at the fourth and fifth and double-bogeys at the eighth and ninth resulting in a front nine of 42.

Matters didn’t improve on the back nine, with Woods bogeying the 11th, 12th and 14th before pulling one shot back a the par-five 15th. However, the birdie proved only momentary relief as he dropped a further shot at the 17th only to hit a new low at the par-four 18th.

The 14-time major winner found the water off the tee and then after a drop deposited his ball in the bunker. After finally finding the green in five shots he then proceeded to three-putt for a quadruple-bogey and a round of 85.

Woods, who will tee off as a single on Sunday, refused to talk to reporters after the round.

Back at the top of the pile, Francesco Molinari (69) and overnight leader David Lingmerth (72) are three shots behind Rose, with Jim Furyk (70) alone on 11-under while Kevin Streelman (65), defending champion Hideki Matsuyama (71), Brendon Todd (71) and Andy Sullivan (72) are a further shot adrift at 10-under.

Rose, who won the Memorial in 2010, got off to a fast start, birding the second after a great iron into the green before a run of three consecutive birdies from the fifth to the eighth saw him grab a share of the lead.

A wayward drive at the ninth resulted in Rose’s one and only bogey on Saturday, and he was soon back on the birdie trail, picking up a shot at the 11th before holing a 25-foot birdie putt at the 14th. A further birdie followed at the 15th, and the world number six did well to save par on the final hole after flirting with the water hazard.

Second round leader Lingmerth struggled for consistency on Saturday, carding a 72 that included an eagle at the seventh and a double bogey on the 14th, with two late birdies salvaging his round somewhat.

Consecutive birdies from the sixth to the eighth saw Molinari rise up the leaderboard, but after taking the turn in 33 he struggled to get going on the back nine, as he went on to register a solid 69.

Streelman was one of the big movers on the day, with his 65 the joint low round of the day as he rocketed 40 places up the leaderboard thanks to six birdies on the front nine.

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