FORT WORTH, Texas – Jon Rahm chose the aggressive play after starting Saturday’s round with a stellar front nine. A poor swing resulted in his only bogey of the day, but Rahm still worked his way into contention at the Fort Worth Invitational. After a 342-yard drive on the par-5 11th, he decided to go for the green in two with a 3-wood from 275 yards. A hazard runs down the right side of the hole, but Rahm didn’t want to take the conservative line after playing “the best 10 holes I’ve played so far this year.â€� “I didn’t want to bail out left,â€� Rahm said. “I wanted to be aggressive. I made the only poor swing of the day, to be honest.â€� Rahm added one more birdie on his final seven holes to shoot 64 on a low-scoring Saturday at Colonial Country Club. He is 8 under par after 54 holes (68-70-64). Corey Conners and Ted Potter Jr. both posted 63s early Saturday, while several other players matched Rahm’s 64. Rahm shot 5-under 30 on the front nine after hitting all nine greens in regulation. All five birdies came on putts from inside 20 feet. The wind picked up on the back nine, but Rahm was still pleased with his play on the closing holes. “After that, I kept hitting good shots,â€� he said. Rahm has been coming to Colonial since his college days, when he was the only two-time winner of the Ben Hogan Award. That honor, given to the best player in college and amateur golf, is bestowed at a black-tie banquet three days before the Fort Worth Invitational. Colonial Country Club’s tree-lined fairways remind him of his childhood course in Spain, and he uses that same youthful aggressiveness at a course where many players prefer to play conservatively from the tee. Rahm won the Spanish Open last month for his second win of 2018. He also won the CareerBuilder Challenge in January. Rahm ranks ninth in the FedExCup after finishing fifth in his first full season on TOUR. He made his debut at this event last year, finishing one shot behind winner Kevin Kisner. Rahm has shot par or better in all seven rounds he’s played here, averaging 67.6 strokes per round. Saturday’s 64 was his low score at Colonial by two strokes. “Any time you go around this place with one poor shot the whole day, I think it’s a pretty successful day,â€� Rahm said.
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