Justin Rose keeps up record-setting pace, taking full control of 2026 Farmers Insurance Open leaderboard

The 45-year-old Englishman has been the low scorer all week; now, he appears poised to win his second tournament in Torrey Pines on Sunday

After setting a tournament record for lowest score after 36 holes to take a four-shot lead into the weekend, Justin Rose didn't relent in Saturday's third round at the 2026 Farmers Insurance Open. Previously the 2019 champion at Torrey Pines, Rose continued his assault on flagsticks with another sensational ball-striking round, extending his advantage to take a six-shot lead into Sunday's final round after shooting a 4-under 68. 

Rose was in control of his swing from the jump, finding fairways and attacking pins throughout his front nine, taking full advantage of a picture-perfect, calm day near San Diego. Rose made the turn at 4 under, which included a short miss for birdie on the par-5 ninth, and his 32 going out felt like the worst possible score he could've shot given his ball-striking. 

The best example of how sharp his approach play was on the front nine was the fact that he shot 32 without making a putt longer than 6 feet, 4 inches.

Rose tacked on another birdie on the 10th -- from 5 feet, 11 inches -- to take an eight-shot lead, and it looked like he might treat Torrey Pines into TPC Craig Ranch. Finally, on the 11th and 12th holes, the South Course took its toll in the form of back-to-back bogeys, just the second and third bogeys of the week for Masters runner-up. 

Wayward tee shots and scratchy short game play cost Rose on both holes, and his lead was briefly trimmed to six with the field wondering whether the wheels would come off. 

That wasn't the case as he quickly righted the ship on the par-5 13th, getting up and down from the left rough for birdie to extend his lead back to eight and snuff out that brief glimmer of hope from the rest of the field. 

As the final group made their way down the stretch at Torrey Pines, Seamus Power faded off the pace with a rough back nine, but Joel Dahmen hung tough and kept Rose honest in the closing stretch. 

Dahmen, who got into the field on Monday as an alternate, pulled back within six with a birdie on the difficult par-3 16th, while Rose carded his third bogey of the day after coming up short in the bunker. Both made birdies on the 18th to keep pace with each other and keep Rose's lead at six heading into Sunday.

With Dahmen only having conditional status on the PGA Tour this season after finishing 122nd in the final FedEx Cup Fall standings, taking advantage of starts is a must, and he's doing just that through three rounds of play at the Farmers. Catching Rose might be too tall an order, but he's given himself a chance going into Sunday and appears set, at the very least, for a high finish that will get him valuable points and a healthy paycheck. 

While Dahmen at least kept it from being a complete runaway with his 68, it's Rose who is in full control of the tournament going into the final round with a six-shot advantage. He has an excellent chance to break his own tournament record of lowest score to par from 2019 when he shot 21 under. All he needs is another round under par, and he'll accomplish that feat to pick up his second win in his last six starts on the PGA Tour.

Leader

1. Justin Rose (-20): Rose finally looked a bit human on the back nine on Saturday after a machine-like start -- at least until stuffing a wedge on the 18th to set up another kick-in birdie. He had some loose swings, hit a couple shaky chips and seemed like he was just trying to land the plane as he came down the stretch. That's understandable for someone with a six-shot lead, and with no one behind him really mounting a significant charge, he created an ample cushion that allowed him to stay on track despite stumbling a bit.

The key for Rose will be the first few holes on Sunday. If he can repeat his performance from Saturday, he will quickly slam the door shut and create an insurmountable lead. However, if what we saw on the back nine is a harbinger of things to come from the 45-year-old, perhaps there will be a bit more drama than expected in the final round. 

Contenders

2. Joel Dahmen (-15)
3. Ryo Hisatsune, Si Woo Kim (-13)
5. Max McGreevy (-12)

It's hard to imagine anyone else truly getting in the mix, barring a legitimate meltdown from Rose, and everyone in the final couple of groupings trying to chase down the leader will have to get off to a red-hot start and get some help from the Englishman. 

It'll be particularly interesting to see how Dahmen approaches the final round. There's so much at stake for him when it comes to collecting valuable points. If he can mount a strong finish, it's fair to wonder whether he'll be willing to get as aggressive as he likely needs to give himself a chance to chase down Rose. Forcing things at the South Course can lead to disaster, and as big as a win would be for him, he can't afford to risk big numbers to back out of the top 5. 

One player from this group who we know will be aggressive is Si Woo Kim, who had an up-and-down Saturday but was able to make a string of birdies late to push into the top 3. He might be the one to watch in terms of the player willing to take on the risk of attacking flagsticks to try and apply some pressure to Rose. 

Updated 2026 Farmers Insurance Open odds, picks

Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook

• Justin Rose (-4000)
• Joel Dahmen (27-1)
• Si Woo Kim (45-1)
• Ryo Hisatsune (100-1)

This is Rose's tournament to lose, and it's just hard to see how anyone makes up a six-shot deficit on him. There's not really any value left in Rose positions to win, so it's worth shift attention elsewhere to head-to-head matchups on Sunday. 

[Jan 31, 2026 at 6:06 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Koepka's third round got off to a wild start, as he went bogey-double out of the gates before a string of three birdies followed by another bogey before finally carding his first par on his seventh hole of the day. Things calmed down from there as he made two more birdies and two more bogeys the rest of the way, finishing on a sour note as his putter let him down again at the last to make a closing bogey on No. 9. 

It was the continuation of a rough trend for Koepka on the greens this week, where he ranks 73rd out of 74 players to make the cut in strokes gained putting, losing 6.9 strokes to the field with the flat stick this week. The poa greens out west aren't the favorite of every golfer, and Koepka has really struggled with his speed control so far this week -- even with the greens appearing incredibly pure and not getting particularly bumpy with an early afternoon finish. 

At 2 under, Koepka is currently tied for 61st, and while he's gained strokes off the tee, on approach and with his short game, the putting woes have been too much to overcome to this point and that has to be the focus of his efforts going forward into Sunday and next week's WM Phoenix Open. 

He's been solid off the tee and with the irons, which got him to the weekend, and if he can figure out whatever has plagued him on the greens at Torrey Pines, there are positives to take into Phoenix. 

[Jan 31, 2026 at 5:52 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

While Seamus Power has bowed out of the running with four bogeys in his last five holes, Joel Dahmen is at least keeping Justin Rose honest in the final group. A birdie on the long par-3 16th, coupled with a Rose bogey from the bunker, has Dahmen just six off the pace as they head to the final two holes on Saturday. 

This is a huge week for Dahmen after getting in as an alternate early in the week. Without full status for this season, a top-3 finish would be huge for his chances of regaining his full-time card. He pounced on the North Course on Friday to surge into the final pairing with a 63, and he's hung in against the Rose onslaught in the final group on Saturday and is now in solo second -- albeit still six shots back. 

Passing Rose to win remains an incredibly tall order, but if he can pinch another shot off the lead in the final two holes he'll at least have a shot. If nothing else, he's taken full advantage of his opportunity this week and is going to get some valuable points -- and a big paycheck -- if he can manage the next 20 holes well. 

[Jan 31, 2026 at 5:13 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Even with relatively little wind out on the course, scoring on Saturday has been fairly muted on the South Course at Torrey Pines. Greens have firmed up considerably and players are having to show some serious distance control with their irons to attack flags. 

No one has done that better on Saturday than Stephan Jaeger, as the German posted a 7-under 65 to vault 40 spots up the leaderboard, currently in fifth alone at 11 under for the tournament. Jaeger went bogey-free in his third round, which is quite the accomplishment on the South Course. He hit 15-of-18 greens in regulation and is leading the field in stroked gained putting on Saturday, which is a very good combination. 

He's still 10 shots back of the leader, Justin Rose, but as players jockey for early-season points, a top-5 finish at the Farmers would be big for Jaeger's season. His sensational Saturday on the South Course has him in position for that kind of finish, and he'll look to back it up with a strong final round to post a high finish on Sunday. 

[Jan 31, 2026 at 4:30 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

After making just one bogey all week, Justin Rose finally looked mortal on the 11th and 12th holes at Torrey Pines, going bogey-bogey to slide back to 20 under and give a little hope to the field that perhaps he'll back up further going into Sunday. 

Rose's problems started with a tee shot that came up short of the long par-3 11th, and he compounded that issue with an indecisive chip, leaving himself 14 feet for par. He was unable to clean that up and walked off with a bogey and a six-shot lead after Seamus Power made a birdie to create a two-shot swing. 

On the long par-4 12th, Rose hung his tee shot out in the right rough and could only advance a 5-iron to just short of the green. Once again a shaky pitch shot cost him -- this time a bump-and-run attempt that never grabbed and rolled into the fringe off the back edge of the green. That led to another bogey and dropped him to 20 under, but he maintains a six-shot lead over Power and Joel Dahmen after Power also made a bogey on an unforced error from the fairway left him just above the lip of the greenside bunker. 

Rose showed the first real signs of frustration that we've seen from him all week after the bump-and-run got away from him, and we'll have to see how quickly he can reset and get himself back on track. No one else has made a real run at him on the leaderboard, as the next closest behind Dahmen and Power are at 11 under, still nine shots off the pace. 

[Jan 31, 2026 at 4:05 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Rose is threatening to smash the all-time scoring record at the Farmers Insurance Open as he's now 22 under after 46 holes of play. His iron play remains spectacular, and after missing a short birdie putt on the par-5 9th, he made up for it quickly with another close approach on No. 10 and made that birdie putt. 

Through 10 holes, Rose still only has 58 feet of made putts, but because he's thrown darts at the flags, taking advantage of a windless day at Torrey Pines, he hasn't needed to make anything of real distance to pull away from the field. His lead is back to eight over Joel Dahmen and Seamus Power, doubling his advantage from the start of the day. 

[Jan 31, 2026 at 3:15 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Justin Rose is now 21 under -- the record for lowest score at Torrey Pines, also held by Rose with his win in 2019 -- and has an eight shot lead over Seamus Power and Joel Dahmen after his fourth birdie of the front nine on Saturday. Rose has made three birdies in a row on Nos. 5-7 at the South Course as he's just been a buzzsaw tee-to-green on Saturday, showing no signs of slowing down after setting the tournament record for lowest score thru 36 holes. 

The best way to explain how outrageous Rose's ball-striking has been today is that he's -4 thru 7 and hasn't made a putt longer than six feet so far. He is completely dialed in with his swing and after leaning on a hot putter in the first two rounds, he hasn't needed the flat stick to do anything spectacular to double his lead early on Saturday. 

[Jan 31, 2026 at 2:27 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Justin Rose remains red-hot with the irons and after flagging another pitching wedge from 149 yards out on No. 5, he cleaned up a short birdie putt to move to 19 under and extend his lead to six shots over Seamus Power. 

While we've seen some moves up the leaderboard from those further back, Power and Joel Dahmen have lost ground to Rose in the final group. Power has needed a couple lengthy putts just to save par, as he's been wayward off the tee early in his third round and has had to claw his way around to five straight pars. Dahmen birdied the first and came close to another on the second, but hasn't been quite as sharp as he was on Saturday in the early going. 

As a result, Rose hasn't felt any pressure and is in cruise control early in his third round. If anything, being 2 under thru 5 seems like the worst he could be with the way he's hitting the ball from tee-to-green. He misread a good look at birdie on No. 1 and left his birdie putt on No. 4 a rotation short of the cup, and if those had dropped he could be lapping the field at Torrey Pines. 

[Jan 31, 2026 at 2:12 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

It's been a rollercoaster start to Saturday for Brooks Koepka, but after a bogey-double start, he's rattled off three consecutive birdies to get back to even for the day and 3 under for the tournament. His latest came from just off the green on the 14th (his fifth), as he's got the putter warmed up after a tough start. 

Koepka's focus right now is getting some more competitive reps and building a rhythm now that he's back on a regular PGA Tour schedule. It looked early on like things might go off the rails for the five-time major champ, but he's righted the ship quickly and still is yet to put a par on the card in an eventful first five holes. 

[Jan 31, 2026 at 1:40 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

If the chase pack was hoping Justin Rose would take an early step back on Saturday, they have been disappointed by his strong start in the third round. After a routine par on the first, Rose stuffed his approach on the short par-4 second to six feet and rolled that in for a birdie to move to 18 under, five clear of Seamus Power in second. 

Rose has been dialed with the irons all week and that's continued on the first two holes, as he's put a couple beautiful swings on the ball to start and is showing no signs of letting up on the field that he's threatening to run away from. Power is off to a par-par start, allowing Rose to extend his lead, while Joel Dahmen birdied the first and lipped out a birdie on the second that has him six back at 12 under, also in the final group. 

[Jan 31, 2026 at 1:20 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Brooks Koepka teed off No. 10 to start his third round after making the cut on the number at 3 under. He hoped to carry some positive momentum from his second round 68 into the weekend, but instead he's almost completely undone his progress from Friday in the first two holes of his third round. 

Koepka opened with a bogey on No. 10 after missing the fairway off the tee and failing to get up-and-down from short of the green. He then compounded that mistake by finding the bunker off the tee on the par-3 11th, and after hitting a nice bunker shot to just inside 4 feet, managed to three-putt for double bogey. Koepka slammed his first putt six feet by and couldn't make the comeback effort, walking off the 11th at even par for the tournament.  

[Jan 31, 2026 at 12:11 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Mild wind conditions early in the day present some scoring opportunities at the South Course at Torrey Pines, as evidenced by Keith Mitchell's hot start to his third round. Mitchell birdied the first three holes of the day to jump into the top 20 at 8 under, still nine shots off Justin Rose's pace, but offering a glimpse at what's possible on Moving Day in San Diego. 

The rest of the field will know they need to take it deep on Saturday to have a chance of catching Rose, and Mitchell's start provides an example of what is available in the morning, with the wind not expected to pick up until this afternoon -- and even then, it's projected to sit between 6-12 mph.