Hong Kong Open: Rose, Bjerregaard Lead After 54
By Sam Belden
Mandatory Credit: Porter Binks-USA TODAY Sports
Justin Rose is a busy man these days. Just last week, he kicked off his 2015-16 PGA Tour season with a tie for sixth at the Frys.com Open. This week, he’s at the Hong Kong Open, playing one of the last events on the European Tour schedule. For someone trying to juggle two tours at two different points in the season, he’s performing pretty well–after a superb 64, the 35-year-old Englishman is tied at the top through 54 holes.
Much of Rose’s day was uneventful–14 pars–but he excited, he really excited. The world No. 7 buried a pair of clutch eagle putts, on the third and 13th holes. He also minimized mistakes, extending his bogey-free streak to 27 holes.
Rose has been in an absolute groove over his past few starts, finding the top 15 in each of his last three, including a tie for second at the Tour Championship. If he can keep that kind of form going, he’ll be tough to beat tomorrow.
His main competition will be Lucas Bjerregaard. The untested Dane, currently ranked 85th in the Race to Dubai, fired a 63, the low round of the day, to match Rose’s mark of 15-under. Bjerregaard circled eight birdies during his round, including a streak of four in a row after making the turn. With a one-stroke lead on 18, however, his inexperience showed–he bogeyed, falling back to a share of the top spot.
Regardless of the mild disappointment that ended his day, Bjerregaard is feeling good at the moment, and rightly so.
“It was great,” he said after the round. “I really enjoyed it out there with Justin. He’s a really good guy and we kept making birdies, especially around the turn.”
With the closest competitor, Anirban Lahiri, sitting four strokes behind the leaders, tomorrow should be a showdown between the top two. Rose has won 14 events on all different continents; Bjerregaard has notched all of five European Tour top 10s in his entire career. It’s safe to say we know who the favorite is going to be, but it’ll still be exciting to watch it all unfold.
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Lahiri, to his credit, also had a productive day. The Indian stumbled out of the gate by bogeying the second hole, but he righted the ship from there, circling six birdies the rest of the way to finish with 66 and putting himself in line for a good finish. England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick, the recent winner of the British Masters, also shot a 66 and is tied for fourth, a continuation of his good form. In contrast, Jeev Milkha Singh, also tied for fourth, came out of nowhere this week; the 43-year-old is in the midst of a terrible season and hasn’t notched a top 10 in more than 30 months. He circled eight birdies on Saturday to remain close to the top. Golf’s a strange game.
Other notables? 2009 PGA Champion Y.E. Yang is tied for sixth, while recent Presidents Cup participants Patrick Reed and Thongchai Jaidee are tied for ninth. Ian Poulter, the only past champion to make the cut this week, is tied for 23rd. Ditto for Graeme McDowell, another former Ryder Cup stud for Team Europe.
You can catch the final round of the Hong Kong Open tomorrow from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Golf Channel.
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