Winner’s Bag: Brendan Steele, Safeway Open

FORT WORTH, Texas – Justin Rose would’ve made Ben Hogan proud in his second-round 64 at the Fort Worth Invitational. Rose hit 14 of his first 15 greens Friday and made seven birdies to take the lead after the morning wave completed play. He went low despite making just one putt outside of 10 feet. He is at 10-under 130, three shots ahead of Brooks Koepka and RBC Heritage winner Satoshi Kodaira. Hogan is considered by many to be the best ball-striker in the game’s history, and his presence is strong at Colonial. He won five times at the course that was founded by his mentor and good friend, Marvin Leonard. The clubhouse contains a re-creation of his office and a small museum dedicated to his World Golf Hall of Fame career. A 7-foot-tall statue of him staring down another well-struck shot overlooks the course, as well. Hogan is one of the inspirations for Rose’s longtime swing coach, Sean Foley. The pair put in a solid week of work last week, Rose said, and he added the Fort Worth Invitational to his schedule to gauge the state of his game after being unhappy with his recent form. Rose finished in the top 10 in 13 of 15 starts from last year’s FedExCup Playoffs to the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in March. He finished 52nd in the Houston Open, 12th in the Masters and 23rd at THE PLAYERS, though. Rose started the final round at TPC Sawgrass in 55th place, but started to see positive signs after a final-round 66. “Sunday at The PLAYERS Championship, I felt like I worked into a slightly different feel, which really helped Sean and I kind of dial in a few things we’ve been working on. We had a good productive week last week training-wise,â€� Rose said. “It was nice to bring as good as you feel on the range to the tournament this week.â€� He hit his first 13 greens Friday. Eleven of those approach shots were within 16 feet of the hole. A pep talk from his caddie helped him keep his frustration at bay after missing three short birdie putts on his first four holes. He birdied five of his next seven holes. “He said, ‘Hey mate, just stay patient.’ From there, I got into a nice rhythm,â€� Rose said. “My first 15 holes today were about as good as I’ve played in a long time.â€� He did miss four of his last five greens, but has still hit 30 of 36 through two rounds. And he played Friday’s final five holes in 1 under par after holing a 35-foot birdie putt on 6 and chipping in on 7. He has made just two bogeys this week. Rose is trying to become the fifth multiple winner this season; Justin Thomas, Jason Day, Bubba Watson and Patton Kizzire have all won twice in 2017-18. Rose is 11th in this season’s FedExCup standings. He could rise as high as No. 2 with a victory.

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