FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Justin Rose closed with a 6-under 64 and finished at 20 under Sunday at Colonial for a three-stroke victory over defending U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka in the Fort Worth Invitational.
It was the ninth career PGA Tour victory for Rose, the 37-year-old Englishman and No. 5 player in the world who also won his 2017-18 season debut in October at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai. He is the fifth player with multiple wins this season. Rose got nearly $1.3 million and a plaid jacket for winning at Hogan’s Alley.
“Really, really proud of this one,” Rose said. “This is a special victory for me. I think obviously just winning here at this venue I think is really what means so much. A tournament that I pick up the trophy and the first thing I saw was Ben Hogan’s name twice. It sort of says a lot.”
Koepka shot 63, but had started the day four strokes behind Rose in the final group. Emiliano Grillo had a 64 to finish third at 16 under.
While Rose missed matching Zach Johnson’s 2010 tournament scoring record of 259 because of bogey on the 72nd hole, first-round leader Kevin Na matched the course record with a closing 61 and finished fourth at 14 under.
Fourth-ranked Jon Rahm shot 68 and was tied for fifth at 10 under with Louis Oosthuizen (68) and Kevin Tway (67).
The win at Colonial, the longest-running PGA Tour event still played at its original site (since 1946), adds to an impressive list of traditional courses where Rose has won.
Rose got his first PGA Tour win at Muirfield Village in the 2010 Memorial, and won the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion. His 11 international victories include the 2014 Scottish Open at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, and the 2007 Volvo Masters at Valderrama in Spain.
After birdies on Nos. 1 and 2 for the third day in a row, Rose gave up a stroke at the difficult 459-yard third when his drive went into a fairway bunker and he hit from there into the rough.
Rose got that stroke back with a 23-foot birdie putt at the 474-yard fifth hole, the toughest at Colonial, to restore his lead to four over Koepka.
“That kick started the momentum on the front nine,” he said.
Koepka’s highlight shot of the day was birdie blast out of a greenside bunker at the sixth hole to get to 13 under. But Rose immediately responded by making his 12-foot birdie putt. Rose had a five-stroke lead, his biggest, after a 10-foot birdie at the ninth hole got him to 19 under.
Na tapped in for a birdie at the 435-yard 18th hole to match his career-best score and become the seventh PGA Tour golfer with a 9-under round at Colonial — the first since Chad Campbell in the third round in 2004. Na also shot a 61 in the third round of the 2010 Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina.
After an opening 62 that ended with a 92 foot chip-in from the rough when he ended his first round at No. 9, Na fell back in the field with a 73 in the second round and then shot even par Saturday.
Jordan Spieth made a short birdie at No. 18 on Sunday for a closing 68 to finish 5 under and tied for 32nd at Colonial, where he had a win and two runner-up finishes the past three years. The No. 3 player in the world has played in 20 PGA Tour events since his last win, at the British Open last summer.
