Rose, who surged up the leaderboard with a back nine of 30 for 65 on Friday, trickled in a downhill five-footer at the 18th to finish his bogey-free round for a 54-hole total of 13-under-par 200.
“The first 27 holes I had to be really patient. I knew I was playing well but nothing was happening for me. Everything started happening at once yesterday,” Rose said about getting hot with a putter he pulled out from storage in his garage.
“It was nice to carry on that mojo today.” Brendon de Jonge of Zimbabwe, who shot 66, and American Webb Simpson, who registered his third successive 67, were tied for second on 201 on a another ideal day for scoring at the Copperhead course.
A further stroke back on 11 under par were Americans Gary Woodland (67) and Tour rookie Scott Stallings, who used a hole-in-one at the 214-yard, par-three eighth hole, and two other birdies on par-threes to post 66.
Stallings, who missed the cut in his first five events before finishing tied for 42nd at last week’s Puerto Rican Open, used a six iron for his ace. “We didn’t see it go in but we heard the crowd. It was awesome,” the 25-year-old said.
Red-hot Nick Watney, who won last week’s WGC-Cadillac, fired a 65 to bounce back from a second-round 72 and join fellow-Americans Chris Couch, Garrett Willis and Brandt Snedeker on 10-under-par 203.
“I’m definitely riding some momentum,” said Watney, who has finished top 10 of all five events he has played. “I just feel good with my game and I’m feeling more and more comfortable.” Rose, who won twice last year on the US Tour at The Memorial and AT&T National, has been solid all week with his approach shots, missing just seven greens in the first three rounds.
“This week’s been one of my best ball striking rounds,” said the 30-year-old Englishman, who is honing his game for next month’s Masters.
“I decided to play this week and next week with an eye on the Masters, and really try to run myself into some form and get freer as I went along,” he said. “It’s a matter of not trying too hard, almost.”
Jacquelin leads weather-delayed final round
In Sicily, Italy, France’s Raphael Jacquelin will take a one-shot lead over Briton Anthony Wall into the remaining six holes of the Sicilian Open on Monday after a weather-delayed final round on Sunday.
Tournament officials were forced to suspend play at 1116 local time (1016 GMT) and the delay lasted for two and a half hours, the European Tour said on its website.
Jacquelin sat on 11 under par through 12 holes when bad light halted play, with playing partner Wall a stroke back and Spain’s Jose Manuel Lara on nine under through 15 holes. A two-under 69 gave Sweden’s Joel Sjoholm the clubhouse lead at seven-under 277.
