Justin Rose catches fire late to propel himself to final pairing

Caddie Mark Fulcher held out the putter and Justin Rose nearly took it from him before realizing it was not needed on No. 16, bringing a smile to both faces.

Rose caught fire on the second nine of Augusta National Golf Club on Saturday, including holing out from the front greenside bunker on the 16th. The shot helped get him in Sunday’s final pairing at 12-under, four shots back of leader Jordan Spieth.

The 34-year-old Englishman shot 5-under-par 67 in the third round to put himself in a position he’s seen before. Rose entered the final round tied for second in 2007 before shooting 73 and tying for fifth.

“You have to put it on the line, and you’ve got to make committed, aggressive swings under pressure,” Rose said. “That’s what I’m going to do (Sunday).”

Rose started poorly with two bogeys on the first five holes before a birdie on No. 7 changed his day. He hit his approach to 15 feet and made the putt to jump-start his round.

“That sort of changed the momentum for me,” he said. “From that moment on, I was very committed to my shots. I guess I played patient golf and got rewarded at the end.”

The reward was six birdies in the final 10 holes, with five on the last six. He posted four birdies from Nos. 13 and 16. The birdie streak appeared to be in jeopardy on the 16th before he holed out the bunker shot.

“The sand, if anything, was slightly wet in there, which I knew I could be somewhat aggressive,” he said. “I knew I could get a little bit of check on the ball. I flew it probably 10 feet short of the flag, one bounce, bit of check.”

Rose followed with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th for sole possession of second place.

He’ll join Spieth in the final pairing today. Spieth, 13 years younger than Rose, set the Masters record for lowest first 54 holes at 200 with a third-round 70.

The two played the first two rounds of last week’s Houston Open together. Rose said he’s played alongside Spieth often lately, from the 2014 Ryder Cup through the Florida swing.

“When you have played a bit of golf with someone recently, you can work off their game a little bit, especially the par-3s and club selection, stuff like that,” Rose said. “So, from a club point of view, it’s a good pairing.”