• AT&T National, Round Four

Rose hangs on for narrow victory in Pennsylvania

Justin Rose won at Memorial © Getty Images

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Justin Rose secured his second win in three starts by clinging on for a narrow triumph at the AT&T National in Pennsylvania.

The Memorial winner began the day with a comfortable four-shot cushion over the rest of the field, but that advantage had been gradually eroded - and Rose approached the final tee only one stroke ahead of Ryan Moore, who was in the clubhouse at nine under.

It was a scenario that had ominous-looking parallels with Rose's performance at the Travelers Championship, where he was the final-round leader but finished in ninth after his game imploded at the last.

There was no such wobble this time out, however, as the Englishman showed his reserves of composure to close out the victory with a steady par. Jeff Overton ended one shot behind Moore, who carded a superlative five-under round of 65 to pile pressure on Rose's shoulders.

In the early stages here, Rose did a fine job of making life hard for himself - a bogey on the opening hole - but he soon settled down, and an eagle three at the ninth saw him reach the turn in a two-under 33.

At that point Rose had a four-stroke lead that looked insurmountable, but he gave two shots back at 10 and 11. From then on it was an unbroken run of pars as he struggled to find his touch on the greens - he needed 35 putts, six more than his next-worst effort of the tournament - during a level-par 70. A birdie-free back nine was enough for a success, however, and one that will go a long way to banishing the negative memories of Travelers.

Tiger Woods finished 14 shots behind Rose in a tie for 46th, but he insisted afterwards that his game was on an upward trajectory - despite his "awful" putting. "I've driven the ball better this week than I have in a very long time," Woods said. "I just wanted to keep hitting it. That hasn't been the case lately. I putted awful all week."

Woods signed for a 71, meaning that he failed to break par on any of the rounds he played over the course of the weekend. Jim Furyk fared two shots better, while Vijay Singh finished in a tie for ninth spot.

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