Bloom is off Rose in Hope
By: TOM SHERIDAN - Staff Writer | ∞
PALM DESERT ---- It is the golfer's universal symbol of disgust: Swing the club, drop the club.
When Justin Rose executed that move after his tee shot on the 11th hole at the Classic Club on Saturday afternoon at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, it essentially signaled ... game on!
Rose's ball drifted into a water hazard, and the resulting bogey was a clear sign that today would be more than an 18-hole coronation for the English expatriate who had built a five-stroke lead early in the fourth round.
"All week I've been saying that until you've played all four courses, you don't really know," Rose said. "It's a bit of a skewed leaderboard."
By the end of the fourth round, Rose, who finished with a 2-under 70, had been caught by Lucas Glover, whose 7-under 65 was the low round of the day at La Quinta Country Club. They are at 20-under 268.
John Rollins is a couple of strokes back at 18-under 270, after shooting a 67 at the Palmer Private Course at PGA West. Poway High grad Charley Hoffman and former U.S. Amateur champion Jeff Quinney are tied for fourth at 16-under 272.
Hoffman turned in his second bogey-free round of the tournament, a 4-under 68 at the Classic Club.
"I'm getting it in the hole all right," Hoffman said. "Just four solid rounds, and hopefully I'll keep it going tomorrow."
Seventy-six players made the cut at 6-under 282. The fourth round was a wrap for the amateurs ---- including celebrities like Ray Romano, Clint Eastwood and Yogi Berra ---- so the remaining pros will gather at the Classic Club today for the conclusion of this tour rarity: a 90-hole tournament.
After forging a two-stroke lead through three rounds, Rose got off to a hot start with 15-foot putt for birdie on the 408-yard, par-4 first hole, and followed it with another birdie on second hole to get to 20 under through 56 holes.
Rollins rolled in a long putt for eagle on his second hole, and at that point, late in the morning, Rose was 20 under and Rollins 15 under.
But then the Rose Express began to lose some steam. He missed the green at the difficult 220-yard, par-3 sixth hole, leading to a bogey, and after depositing his tee shot in the water to the right of the 11th fairway, he needed to sink a 7-footer just to save bogey.
"I set it up with my feet and my body down the left side," Rose said, "and maybe just wasn't quite disciplined with the club face, left the club face open, and maybe just cut it into the water."
In the meantime, some 11 miles to the south at La Quinta, Glover was rolling. After a bogey on his first hole, when his tee shot trickled through the fairway and under a tree, he didn't make a significant mistake the rest of the day and strung together three consecutive birdies on his second nine (the front nine), shooting a 5-under 31 on his way into the clubhouse.
Last year at the Hope, Glover closed with a 66 on the final day at the Classic Club to vault from a tie for 44th to a tie for 10th.
"Any time you shoot 6-under over there on Sunday, you've got to put it in the vault for something like tomorrow," Glover said. "I realize that I did play well last year and that I'm capable of doing that."
This is Hoffman's first appearance at the Hope. He had a nice little cheering section following him on Saturday, including his parents, girlfriend and family friends from his home course, StoneRidge Country Club in Poway.
"I haven't been playing too much, and it's nice to get off to a decent start," he said. "Hopefully, I can keep it going tomorrow. I didn't have many expectations going into the week and I'm not going to have too many tomorrow. Just trying to keep playing the game I've been playing, pretty conservative, and try to roll in a few putts for birdie."
Et cetera
Julieta Granada and Celeste Troche shot a 3-over 75 in windy conditions in alternate-shot play to help Paraguay maintain a four-stroke lead in the Women's World Cup of Golf at Sun City, South Africa. Granada and Troche had a 2-under 214 total. Italy's Giulia Sergas and Veronica Zorzi were second, and Americans Juli Inkster and Pat Hurst (70) were third at 3 over. ... Padraig Harrington shot a 4-under 68 to take a one-stroke lead after the third round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Harrington has a 13-under 203 total.
Contact staff writer Tom Sheridan at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2649 or tsheridan@nctimes.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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