Fort Worth Invitational Recap: Rose Takes Colonial Title

The top of golf's world rankings is filled with larger-than-life presences, big-time personalities such as Rickie, Rory and Rahm, Jordan, DJ and JT. And that doesn't even include Tiger and Phil. These guys are always making a splash, win or lose, and … wait … what? … we left someone out?

Oh, right, Justin Rose.

The veteran Englishman is the quietest and most reserved among golf's elite, someone who tends to get lost amid the noise generated by all those one-name wonders. Even Rose's game is muted in comparison to the raw power of Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas, the wizardry of Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler.

But Rose came up pretty dang large in blitzing storied Colonial with a 66-64-66-64 to capture the Fort Worth Invitational by three strokes over Brooks Koepka on Sunday. He is now ranked No. 3 in the world, equaling his career best.

It was a far more impressive performance than McIlroy turned in at the European Tour's flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship, in which he lost a share of the 54-hole lead as Francesco Molinari raced to the title at Wentworth in Surrey, England.

But first, Rose. It was his second win of the season, the first coming way back in October when he came from far back to chase down then-world No. 1 Johnson in the WGC-HSBC Champions in China. It was part of a months-long surge of top-10s for Rose, but heading into Colonial, his game had gone adrift a little bit. He was still securing top-25s, but not top-10s.

Now, his game is back on track just three weeks before the U.S. Open. Of course, Shinnecock Hills will be a far more stearn test than Colonial, whose main defense, the wind, never materialized, allowing for a boatload of low scores despite sweltering temperatures of nearly 100.

It was a bit of a surprise that Rose was in the tournament at all, with the BMW PGA in his home country going on the at the same time. But he said the decision boiled down to meeting the PGA Tour's membership guidelines of entering one tournament he hadn't played in in four years.

"It was a very difficult decision to miss Wentworth, but I felt I had to bite the bullet," Rose told the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph. "I'm a bit of a victim of the new PGA Tour rule. There were only a few options, and they included the John Deere [Classic] and the Wyndham [Championship] – but I wanted to play the Scottish Open before the Open at Carnoustie, so that ruled out John Deere.

"And the Wyndham falls at a tough time, just before the FedEx Cup series, especially in a Ryder Cup year because you don't want to be over-golfed at that time of year. So playing Colonial was pretty much the only option, and it fits in well leading up to the US Open."

Playing so well surely removed some of the sting of missing the tournament back home. And Rose's game is now positioned for him to contend for a second U.S. Open title.

BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Francesco Molinari and Rory McIlroy
Molinari hadn't been enjoying a stellar season, at least in the States. But tied and paired with McIlroy entering the final round, the Italian's brilliant tee-to-green game was at its finest. He won by two strokes, but that's misleading because the Northern Irishman needed birdies on the final two holes to make it even semi-close.

Molinari has never made an impact at the U.S. Open, and this big win isn't like to change that. For McIlroy, it was another disappointing result with victory within reach. He now heads to the Memorial, where he has accumulated three top-10s through the years.

Defending champion Alex Noren (T3), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (T5), Branden Grace (T5) and Rafa Cabrera Bello (T8) also signaled that their games are rounding into form in advance of the U.S. Open.

Next year the BMW will move to September, to avoid bumping into the U.S. PGA Championship, which moves to May.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Brooks Koepka
Well, with 63s in three of his past five rounds, it's pretty clear that Koepka's wrist is fully healed, leaving him in prime position heading into the defense of his U.S. Open title. Koepka tied the course record in the final round at The Players to tie for 11th, then finished runner-up at Colonial. Both tracks require accuracy off the tee, so it's especially encouraging for Koepka backers. Koepka is not playing the Memorial this week, and isn't among the early field commitments for Memphis the following week, so we may not see him again till Shinnecock.

Emiliano Grillo
Grillo had three days to chase down Rose and couldn't do it, but his solo third extended a terrific season. It was his sixth top-10 in 16 starts, and it sure looks as if the Argentine's second Tour win will come sooner rather than later. Grillo was 11th in the field in strokes gained: approach and first in strokes gained: putting, a combination good enough to win many weeks. Even so, Grillo should be very favorably priced this week for the Memorial.

Kevin Na
It's not easy to shoot a 61 and a 62 in the same tournament and still not win, but Na pulled it off. Regardless, it was a second straight great week, with this solo fourth following up a T6 at the Byron Nelson. It's been a sharp turnaround from a horrible season for Na, who now heads to Muirfield Village, where he was the runner-up four years ago. As with Grillo, look for some great prices for Na.

Louis Oosthuizen
Oosthuizen tied for fifth in Fort Worth, giving him six top-10s in his 10 starts on the PGA Tour. Very good, of course. But it got us thinking: When was the last time he has won in the States? The answer is: never! The 35-year-old South African has played 145 PGA Tour events and his one win was the 2010 British Open. Pretty remarkable. But Oosthuizen often plays well in the majors, with 16 career top-25s, including in each of the past three U.S. Opens.

Joaquin Niemann
The 19-year-old former top-ranked amateur gets to save another sponsor exemption thanks to a second top-10 cash in four starts since turning pro. So we'll see Niemann next at Memphis, but he'll likely try to qualify for the U.S. Open earlier that week.

Joel Dahmen
Dahmen needed to return to the Web.com Tour to retain his card after last season, and he did it – barely. He's now amid the best stretch of career, with a T20 at Colonial giving the 30-year-old a fourth straight top-25. The surge has finally landed Dahmen inside the top-125 in the FedEx Cup standings, at 122nd. He's still a long way from keeping his card, but Dahmen is someone on whom to keep an eye. He'll shoot for another top-25, or better, in two weeks at Memphis.

Russell Henley
Henley had two very good weeks in a row last month, T8 at Houston and T15 at the Masters, but otherwise this has been a horrible year for him. He's barely inside the top-100 in the FedEx Cup standings. Henley tied for 58th at Colonial, and the only good news is that it came after two consecutive missed cuts. Henley has had only one top-10 all season – the aforementioned Houston. The biggest culprit is his play around the green. He is ranked 200th in strokes gained: around the green. That's unfathomable. But he's also outside the top-100 in other strokes-gained categories: off the tee, tee to green and putting.

Aaron Wise
Wise missed the cut just days after notching his first PGA Tour title. It was to be expected. It's hard coming down from the highest high in such a short timeframe. That said, Colonial is an accuracy course, whereas Wise just let fly on the wide-open fairways of Trinity Forest. So it'll be interesting to see how Wise handles Muirfield Village this week. Might be good to give him more time to come back to Earth.

Cameron Davis
Davis is a 23-year-old Aussie who won the prestigious Australian Open back in November by besting Jason Day. That got him into the Open Championship. But there's more. On Sunday, Davis won the Web.com Tour event in Nashville, just two weeks after tying for fourth in Knoxville, pretty much assuring his PGA Tour card for next season. Davis had already gotten a spot in the Memorial field thanks to being an international tour money leader, but Sunday's victory puts added focus on him, even among all the big names. Davis surely will be priced sub-$7,000 in DraftKings.