Justin Rose shares lead in Scotland; Inbee Park takes British top spot

Justin Rose set up a chance to capture back-to-back titles by shooting a five-under-par 66 in the Scottish Open at Royal Aberdeen on Saturday to move into a share of the lead with Marc Warren after three rounds.

Rose and Warren, who had a 67, are at 10 under at the warm-up tournament for the British Open, one shot clear of Sweden’s Kristoffer Broberg, shot a 68.

Nearly three weeks after winning the Quicken Loans National at Congressional, Rose has kept up his strong form despite struggling with sinus problems.

His round tied for lowest of the day and he had the best back nine of the field, a 31 containing five birdies that was some effort considering it was into the wind off the North Sea.

“Probably my second round at Congressional and this round are two of the best I’ve played all year,” said Rose, whose last victory before Congressional was the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion. “I felt like I got it close to the hole many times out there, which on a links course is hard to do.

“I’m on a nice little run right now. To keep it going would be fantastic.”

Warren, who held a three-shot lead midway through the third round, is looking to avenge a final-round collapse at his home Scottish Open in 2012.

Rory McIlroy (68) and Phil Mickelson (70) were unable to mount considerable challenges to the leaders and are seven and eight shots off the lead, respectively.

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A late ruling took Inbee Park from one shot behind to leading the Women’s British Open at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England, the slightest head start in her quest to become only the seventh player to win four of the LPGA Tour’s major championships.

Park handled the tough opening stretch with three birdies and shot a four-under 68, giving her a one-shot lead over fellow major champions Suzann Pettersen of Norway (68) and Shanshan Feng of China (69), along with Ahn Sun-Ju of South Korea.

Ahn appeared to be the player to chase after what she thought was a 69 for a one-shot lead. She was summoned to the rules trailer, where officials determined she used her left foot to build her stance in a pot bunker left of the 18th green. Ahn was assessed two shots and her par turned into a double bogey. Her 69 became a 71. And she went from a one-shot lead in the final group to having to make up ground against Park, the LPGA Tour’s reigning player of the year.

Park is at four-under 212, though a dozen players are within three shots of the lead.

One of them is Charley Hull, the go-for-broke English teenager who made nine birdies early Saturday for a tournament-best 66 that suddenly put her into contention to become the youngest major champion in LPGA Tour history. She is at one-under 215.

Also in the mix is Mo Martin, the 31-year-old former UCLA player done in by a four-hole stretch on the back nine that sent her to a 77. She also was at 215, along with former U.S. Women’s Open champion So Yeon Ryu. Defending champion Stacy Lewis had a 70 and was three shots behind.

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Gene Sauers shot a three-under 68 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead in the third round of the U.S. Senior Open in Edmond, Okla.

Sauers had a 33 on the back nine to take control at Oak Tree National heading into the final round on Sunday. He is at seven under for the tournament.

Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer and Scott Dunlap are tied for second at four under.

Langer, who has dominated the Champions Tour all season, was solid, but had several potential birdies lip out during his even-par 71. Marco Dawson, who shot a 76 on Friday, rebounded with a 69 on Saturday and is tied for fifth with Jeff Sluman and Vijay Singh.

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Brian Harman had two eagles in a six-under 65 on Saturday that gave him a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill.

Harman’s solid performance got him to 17-under 196 for the tournament at TPC Deere Run. Three-time winner Steve Stricker is alone in second, one stroke better than Scott Brown heading into the final round.

Tim Clark, Jerry Kelly, William McGirt and 2012 champion Zach Johnson are three back at 14-under 199. Clark shot a 64 to move into contention.

The 27-year-old Harman has never finished better than third on the PGA Tour, but he played quite well in the third round. The lefty hit 17 greens and 12 of 14 fairways.

Harman bogeyed Nos. 12 and 18, the latter by missing the green with his approach. His eagles came from 30 feet on the par-five second and from 47 feet on the par-five 17th. Stricker finished strong for a seven-under 64. He had his streak of bogey-free holes end at 24 with a five at the par-four 11th, but rallied for birdies on the last two holes.