Rose impresses but Tiger rules again

Such was the experience of Justin Rose in the BMW Championship at Cog Hill, as he found himself paired in the penultimate group in the final round yesterday with the overwhelming favourite, Tiger Woods.

One thing Rose has always loved is being in the limelight, and here he had it in spades, as a noisy Chicago crowd made themselves heard.

Rose had a decent day, carding 68, but he was never in the hunt after starting five shots back, finishing equal fifth.

And Woods eased to victory, , carding eight birdies in a seemingly effortless eight-under-par 63 in ideal scoring conditions at Cog Hill to win by two strokes.

In Thursday's first round it had been so quiet you could hear the conversations he was having with caddie Mick Doran from outside the ropes.

Here in the din, surrounded by Woods's well-wishers, they had to shout to one another simply to communicate.

As they say, if you don't enjoy this sort of thing, there's plenty of quieter places to play round the world. But on a course with dartboard greens and plenty of birdies to be had, it made for an exciting setting.

The bad news for Rose was that not only did he begin five strokes behind the joint leaders, American Steve Stricker and Aussie Aaron Baddeley, but he was giving the man standing alongside him a four-shot headstart.

The events of the day were taking place against the backdrop of this being the third of four events that comprise the so-called play-offs that make up the FedEx Cup.

Here the field of 70 was going to be cut to just 30 who will contest the Tour Championship in Atlanta, beginning on Thursday.

Rose is the only British player to advance to the 30-man Tour Championship, with Luke Donald and Ian Poulter eliminated, Donald by the smallest of margins.

He finished 31st on the points list, one spot behind Irishman Padraig Harrington, who held on to qualify for a trip to Atlanta, despite taking this week off.

Donald, who started the BMW in 28th place, gave himself a chance with a closing 65, but it turned out to be too little, too late.

Woods, meanwhile, picked up four birdies on the front nine, but could not break clear of Stricker and Baddeley, all three making the turn locked at 18-under.

It seemed for a long time that nobody on the leaderboard could miss from inside 15 feet, as all three leaders reeled off a hat-trick of birdies at the seventh, eighth and ninth holes.

Woods fell one behind when Baddeley birdied the par-five 11th, but Woods then took control in emphatic fashion.

He sank a 50-foot monster at the par-three 12th, and also birdied the par-four 13th, the par-five 15th and par-four 16th, before parring the final two holes.

The big loser was Phil Mickelson, who took the week off, dropping from first to third on the points list, behind Woods and Steve Stricker, setting the scene for a great battle.