SAN DIEGO — Joel Dahmen arrived to the PGA Tour too late to see Tiger Woods in his prime at Torrey Pines. He was witness to what might have been the next best thing Saturday — Justin Rose in control of his game and making the rest of the field feel hopeless in the Farmers Insurance Open.
Rose stretched his lead to as many as eight shots in a performance Woods could appreciate. He was slowed by a few mistakes on the back nine and wound up with a 4-under 68 to lead by six, the largest 54-hole lead at the tournament since Woods led by eight in 2008.
“I’ve enjoyed playing the golf course this week. I want to continue to enjoy the week as a whole,” Rose said. “And yeah, it’s another great round in good weather on an awesome golf course.”
Rose started with a four-shot lead and pulled away with a sublime three-hole stretch of birdies on the front nine — a pitching wedge to a back pin to 6 feet on No. 5, a 7-wood to pin-high on the par-5 sixth and a 9-iron over a tree to 5 feet with the pin tucked right over a bunker.
“He hit at some pins that I was very impressed at, but then they went to 4 feet and he tapped it in for birdie,” Dahmen said. “You know you’re playing really well when you’re doing that. And it was kind of one after another.”
But the seventh hole got his attention, even though Rose sheepishly conceded he wasn’t trying to be that aggressive.
“There’s no room to miss it,” Dahmen said. “The wind is starting to puff off that canyon there so it always plays longer. So he’s got to hit it high over the tree out of the first cut — it could fly, come out dead — and he hits this thing to the moon, it comes down to 4 feet.
“You don’t hit that shot in a practice round, let alone when you have a six- or seven-shot lead on Saturday,” he said. “At that point, that was just kind of like, ‘OK, you win.'”
Rose was at 21-under 195, breaking by three shots the 54-hole tournament record he matched in 2019, sharing the mark with Kyle Stanley (2012), Woods (2008) and Woody Blackburn (1985). Stanley is the only one who didn’t go on to win, losing a five-shot lead.
Rose has been around long enough to take nothing for granted. And he was the beneficiary of Dustin Johnson, the world’s No. 1 player at the time, losing a six-shot lead in the 2017 HSBC Champions.
“There’s never going to be any complacency,” Rose said. “I think there’s always enough respect for the game of golf in the back of your mind that you’ve got to do everything right tomorrow. You’re going to come out, have to be focused, have to play well.”
Woods practically owned the public course along the Pacific bluffs with eight professional wins, including the U.S. Open.
Brooks Koepka, in his return to the PGA Tour from Saudi-funded LIV Golf, played a solid round except for the short putts. He turned a 3-foot par putt into a double bogey on the par-3 11th, and he had a 3-foot birdie putt turn into a bogey on the par-5 ninth, his final hole. He missed six putts inside 5 feet and shot 73.
“I’ve never felt comfortable on poa [bluegrass]. You just miss a few and you’ve got zero confidence,” he said. “I tried to take the break out to still be aggressive like I normally am, but I wasn’t even hitting the hole. I don’t know, I’m just going to chalk it up to just a bad day. But I’m happy with everything else.”
Is it over?
“My only hope is if [Rose] doesn’t set his alarm or he somehow starts hitting in the rough on the back nine maybe,” Dahmen said after his 68 that put him six behind, leading the B-flight. “I don’t know. The way he’s playing and what he’s doing, I would be pleased with second place.”
It’s a big week for Dahmen, who finished outside the FedEx Cup top 100 in the year the tour made that the cutoff for full cards. He has conditional status and got into the Farmers Insurance Open only because of two courses allowing for a larger field.
He also has received a sponsor exemption into the WM Phoenix Open next week, so it’s a good time to help turn his fortunes. A strong Sunday would do wonders.
Rose, meanwhile, continues to enjoy what he once called his “Indian summer.”
At age 45, he was the oldest player by seven years on Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team. Even if asked — if Luke Donald declines a third captaincy — Rose said last week his focus would be on playing in the 2027 Ryder Cup.
A victory would move him as high as No. 4 in the world ranking.
“Justin is really good at golf right now,” Dahmen said.
