Rose blooms on Friday with 63 at Muirfield Village

DUBLIN, Ohio – FedExCup champion Justin Rose has the best second round scoring average on the PGA TOUR this season, so his 9-under 63 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide shouldn’t have been a surprise. But given he sat at 4-over for the week through four holes on Friday and well outside the projected cut at Muirfield Village, it was. Related: Leaderboard | Get to know K.H. Lee | Down a rib, Merritt makes his move Rose played the last five holes of the front nine in 6-under par with two eagles and two birdies, then added four more birdies on the back nine to post his career-best score at a venue where he won at in 2010 and has posted seven top-10s. The round of the tournament so far sent the 10-time PGA TOUR winner hurtling up the leaderboard into a tie for 11th at 6-under. Rose is just three shots off the lead held jointly by Martin Kaymer, K.H. Lee and Troy Merritt. The reason for his penchant for firing well on Fridays? “Crap first rounds,â€� Rose said. He ranks 64th on TOUR for opening rounds this season and shot a 3-over 75 on Thursday at Muirfield. “I’ve always been a bit of a fighter, back to the wall, having a lot of pride. I missed a lot of cuts early in my career, and I hate missing cuts. I’ve got a lot of personal pride on a Friday to try to get it done. “The two eagles on the front kind of kick started everything. I kept just pushing myself to keep trying to go as low as I could. Once you’re through the cut line, then you’ve got to build your way into the tournament. It was a great day.â€�

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