The legacy of Augusta National's Black caddies
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Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Ageless Justin Rose rallies by J.J. Spaun in playoff to win the FedEx St. Jude Championship
THE ageless brilliance of Justin Rose was epitomised on Sunday evening by a 12th PGA Tour victory at the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis. Much as his quality endures to mind-scrambling places, so too does the stateside curse of Tommy Fleetwood. We can come to the latter's difficulties in a moment, and particularly the galling loss of another lead on the home straight, but first we must go to Rose and an astonishing career that refuses to wilt. The bloke turned 45 less than a fortnight ago and it is hardly trivial that no one aged 40 or more has won on the game's prime circuit this season. He blew such a statistic out of the water by winning on the third extra hole at TPC Southwind against the reigning US Open champion JJ Spaun, having already held off the world No 1 Scottie Scheffler in regulation play. If there is any arthritis in those old joints, it was neither apparent in Rose's scorching back nine in a 67 to force the play-off at 16 under par, nor the way he punched holes in the sky after dropping the 10-footer that ultimately gave him the $3.6million first prize. 'That was an amazing last 90 minutes,' he said. 'I never stopped believing. I played unbelievable golf down the stretch. It was a lot of fun. That is why I play and why I practise. I know when I bring my best I can win. 'I get nervous with the best of them but I know when I get nervous I have still got it. I feel like I am moving well and there could be a good run of golf in me. I cannot let my age become too much of a story. 'This is going to be a fun one to celebrate.' It was Rose's first win in more than two years, with the intervening period including runner-up positions at the 2024 Open Championship and the Masters in April. Ice baths, a portable gym in a customised motorhome and a textbook swing have prolonged once of the great British sporting careers. A word on Spaun – his closing 65 was exceptional, built on birdies at the 16th and 17th that saw him overcome a two-stroke deficit in the same span to Fleetwood, who had led for most of the tournament. The American has had a stellar year, illuminated by that victory at Oakmont, and was a tiny fraction away from winning the play-off with a putt that lipped out from beyond 30-feet on their first rerun of the 18th hole. Rose followed it with a similar near-miss from closer in, before both men birdied on their next visit. It was sublime theatre, peaking when Rose birdied it again on the third go, which preceded Spaun missing from seven feet. Counting a run of four birdies from the 14th in regulation play, Rose ticked off his final eight holes in a remarkable six under par – if anything, his response to pressurised situations is getting better with his advancing years. If there was a sour point, it came from the boorish booing of locals when Rose in the heat of the duel. In a Ryder Cup year, and with both men certain to play at Bethpage Black next month, that is perhaps to be expected, but it was an unnecessary blot on a great encounter. As for Fleetwood, the heartbreak will be both acute and familiar – he has not won in 162 starts on the PGA Tour and now adds a sixth third-place finish to the six he has collected as a runner up. The most recent of the latter was just seven weeks ago and this one will hurt deeply because he was two up with three to play. He battled well in a 69, but was some way short of what he showed across the previous three rounds, which will sadly heighten what folk say about his ability to close in tournaments. The signs were ominous from the start, when he drove into sand on his way to bogeying the opener before a run of 10 straight pars. His overnight lead of one shot was lost to the inertia and so was his rhythm – three missed fairways in the first nine holes was hardly a disaster, but nor was it a match for missing only five in the previous 54. The recovery began at the 12th, when he rolled in a 33-foot monster for birdie, and another followed from mid-range at the next. Given he had been hauled in by Scheffler, Rose and Spaun, it was an impressive response that aged even better when he moved to 16 under on the 15th. Standing on the 16th tee, he was two clear, but then came the unravelling. First, he pushed his approach to the par five up against the foot of the greenside grandstand and failed to benefit from a free drop – he pitched through the putting surface from the kinder lie and could only par. A few minutes earlier, Spaun, in the group in front, had birdied that same hole and then gained another stroke at the 17th to tie the lead. That was a key blow for Fleetwood, who then compounded the error substantially by bogeyed from the fairway on the 17th. Most players would trade for his career in a heartbeat, but the near-misses clearly weigh heavily on the Englishman. 'I did a lot of good things… I am getting close,' said Fleetwood. 'That is the good side of it. I managed to get myself ahead on that back nine and I didn't do quite enough. I am obviously disappointed. Looking at the positives, I was in there again and just didn't get it done.' While Fleetwood's demise stole the attention, his playing partner pinched the strokes. An approach into water at the ninth had dropped him back to 12 under, but his run of birdies from the 14th through the 17th was immense, bookended by putts from 34 and 15 feet. In the end, it was a shorter one that proved his class.
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Justin Rose claims FedEx St Jude Championship on third play-off hole
Justin Rose produced a sensational finish at the FedEx St Jude Championship with six birdies in his last final eight holes to win a play-off against US Open champion JJ Spaun. The Englishman, who at 45 became the oldest European to win on the PGA Tour in the modern era, looked out of it after a bogey at the 12th dropped him to 12 under, two off the pace with Tommy Fleetwood, world number one Scottie Scheffler and Spaun ahead of him. But four birdies from the 14th catapulted him to the top of the leaderboard and he just missed a 13-footer at the last to win outright. He produced two more birdies in three play-off holes – one a clutch effort after Spaun had holed from distance – with the second from 14ft after Spaun was half that distance away proving decisive as his opponent's attempt to extend the contest raced past. 'That was an amazing last 90 minutes. I never stopped believing,' Rose said in his post-round interview. 'I played unbelievable golf coming down the stretch and had so much fun with it. JJ dropped a bomb on me (at the second extra hole), it was a lot of fun. 'When I bring my best I know I'm good enough to play against the best players in the world. This is going to be a fun one for us to celebrate.' The play-off was packed with drama from the start as Rose – who barely cleared the lake with his drive – gave himself an identical 13-foot putt to the one he missed to win the tournament, but it burned the edge of the cup. Playing the hole again, Rose hit to eight feet but Spaun recreated his US Open final green heroics with a monster birdie, forcing the Englishman to hold his nerve. The hole location was re-cut for the third attempt to avoid shadows and Spaun duly hit it to seven feet but Rose, who had lost his previous four play-offs including, like Spaun, to Rory McIlroy this year, dramatically turned the tables by holing his 14ft birdie and Spaun fired past. Rose's joy meant more heartbreak for Fleetwood, who blew another chance to break his PGA Tour duck at the 162nd attempt with a poor finish. The Ryder Cup team-mates had holidayed together in Portugal last week, but failed to spark each other into life in the final group. Fleetwood did not make a birdie until holing his longest putt of the week from 33 feet at the 12th to put him back in a share of the lead. Birdies at the 13th and 15th edged him two in front on 16 under, but as he was escaping with a par after chipping across and off the green with his third at the 16th, Spaun was tying the lead with a birdie at 17. Fleetwood's weak attempt at a seven-foot par putt at the 17th never threatened and needing a birdie at the last just to make a play-off, he drove into a bunker and missed the green with his approach. 'I'm obviously going to be disappointed. There's a lot of positives to take but it won't feel like that right now,' said Fleetwood, whose 29th top-five PGA Tour finish is 11 more than any other player without a win over the last 40 years. 'I'm just going to look at what I feel like I could have done and how close it was.' Scheffler, without his regular caddie Ted Scott who returned home due to a family emergency, finished a shot outside the play-off after two birdies in his final three holes. Jordan Spieth's Ryder Cup hopes were dealt a blow after he dropped out of the top 50 of FedEx Cup rankings and missed the cut for next week's penultimate event after dumping his approach to the last into the water, ending his season and, at 27th in the United States' rankings, likely his Ryder Cup hopes.
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Justin Rose wins nail-biting playoff against JJ Spaun to claim FedEx Cup title
Justin Rose produced a sensational finish at the FedEx St Jude Championship with six birdies in his last final eight holes to win a playoff against the US Open champion JJ Spaun. The English golfer, who at 45 became the oldest European to win on the PGA Tour in the modern era, looked out of it after a bogey at the 12th dropped him to 12 under. That left Rose two off the pace with Tommy Fleetwood, the world No 1 Scottie Scheffler and Spaun ahead of him. But four birdies from the 14th catapulted Rose to the top of the leaderboard and he just missed a 13-foot putt at the last to win outright. He produced two more birdies in three playoff holes, one a clutch effort after Spaun had holed from distance, with the second from 14ft after Spaun was half that distance away proving decisive as his opponent's attempt to extend the contest raced past. 'That was an amazing last 90 minutes. I never stopped believing,' Rose said. 'I played unbelievable golf coming down the stretch and had so much fun with it. JJ dropped a bomb on me [at the second playoff hole], it was a lot of fun. 'When I bring my best I know I'm good enough to play against the best players in the world. This is going to be a fun one for us to celebrate.'
