Justin Rose launches club after huge error at Open de France | Golf | Sport
Justin Rose was left red-faced when he launched his club into the air while attempting a simple chip onto the green at the Open de France. The 44-year-old was four shots adrift of leader Adam Svensson when he lost all composure in a rare moment to forget.
On the par-three eighth hole, Rose fired his tee shot down the fairway but failed to get himself in position to putt for a birdie. His ball came to a stop at the base of a small hump between the right edge of the green and the start of the rough.
It left Rose unable to play a bump-and-run to get onto the green, meaning he was forced to pitch it high. It was a simple shot but he somehow ended up even further away from the hole after failing to make a clean connection.
The one-time US Open champion immediately knew he had made a mistake on his backswing and reacted by throwing his club into the air on the follow-through. He ended up settling for a bogey, finding the green with his next shot before holing out with his first putt.
Later in the round, Rose came within inches of a brilliant eagle on the par-four 12th hole. His ball landed within a few centimetres of the pin and he was awarded a gimme, allowing him to join the lead group on nine-under-par.
However, he dropped another shot with a bogey on the very next hole and finished his round on one-under-par to reduce his overall score to eight-under-par. It saw Rose slip to five shots adrift of Svensson, who currently holds the outright lead on 13-under-par.
Sam Bairstow and Thorbjorn Olsen will go into the final round just behind Svensson on 12-under-par, with Dan Bradbury and Joe Dean still having an outside chance of victory on 11-under-par.
Rose was not the only golfer to suffer an embarrassing mishap on day three of the Open de France. Matthieu Pavon, who won the Open de Espana last year, struck a dreaded shank in front of his home fans and the Sky Sports cameras on the par-four 13th hole.
The Frenchman split the middle of the fairway with a brilliant tee shot and only had a wedge into the green from around 130 yards. Unfortunately for him, he shanked his approach shot into the trees but managed to limit the damage to just a bogey.
