Justin Rose was in last place after his opening 76 in the FedEx St. Jude Championship, but he went 15 shots better in the third round to equal the course record.
Rose will begin the FedEx St. Jude’s final round in the top half of the 70-man field after his 61 on Saturday tied the TPC Southwind record held by Tom Lewis (2020), Bob Estes (2001), and Jay Delsing (1993).
There is no cut in this tournament in Memphis, but the top 50 make next week's BMW Championship and then, from there, the top 30 qualify for the Tour Championship with 2018 FedEx Cup champion, Rose, chasing his first appearance since 2019. Rose said: "I actually didn't realise 61 was the course record, but great. Nice little bonus for the day. It was a fun round, and there were just a few moments in that round where I was tested and came through that test."
Rose birdied the first and was six-under at the turn before coming back in three-under. He assessed: "I played the first two or three holes really badly this week, so it was nice to get off to a stronger start.
"I birdied the par-5 third, which I should. Hit two good shots in there. Birdied the par-3 off the back of that, and then I chipped in at number five to go 4-under through five, and I felt like 'okay, my round is up and running'. Then actually felt like I could have birdied six and seven and didn't.
"(I) Then sort of re-focused because I could feel I was getting a little frustrated because I knew something was on today. That's why I was getting a little frustrated there at six and seven. Did a good job birdieing eight and nine, and played really strongly, I felt, all of the back nine, and when I did get into a little bit of trouble on 13 and 17, holed nice par putts."
TPC Southwind is known for having the most balls hit in the water since ShotLink stats debuted 20 years ago, but Rose avoided any such trouble. He felt his round might have been even better though.
The Englishman added: "You don't often get a chance to shoot 59, so obviously when it happens you want to take it. I was aware of 59. That was really my primary objective. I think there's always a 59 out there for sure. Everyone is so good that if you get a guy that's on, it's out there.
"The golf course is soft. I think 59 is out of the equation when the golf course is firm, but the fact it's soft, that means it's on. But you've got to do everything right. You've got to put it in play off all of the tee boxes and obviously have everything go your way and make a lot of putts."
