Brilliant Rose rises to playoff glory over Spaun after fresh Fleetwood heartache in Memphis

Irish Examiner

2 days ago

Tommy Fleetwood's nightmare wait for a first PGA Tour victory will go on after another slump down the Sunday stretch opened the door for a remarkable, engrossing playoff battle between Justin Rose and JJ Spaun at the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis.
At the third time of asking it was the 45-year-old veteran Rose who sealed a huge $3.6m payday, winning the opening act of the FedEx Cup Playoffs and perhaps even struck the first blow ahead of next month's Ryder Cup, which will feature both protagonists.
It was Rose's first victory on tour for over two years and was all the sweeter after a playoff defeat to Rory McIlroy at the Masters earlier in an impressive season. Becoming the oldest winner of a Playoff event on Tour, he finished in stellar fashion carding birdies at seven of his last 10 holes across regulation and the playoff. All of the drama took at least some of the focus away from another Fleetwood near miss.
In his 162nd start on the tour, the 34-year-old Fleetwood carried a one-shot lead into the final round but saw TPC Southwind join a long list of haunted hunting grounds. Desperate to shake off the nearly-man tag,
Fleetwood, who'd suffered a heartbreaking collapse in June at the Travelers Championship, opened with a bogey and had slipped from the top of the leaderboard by the turn with Spaun and World No.1 Scottie Scheffler moving into shares of the lead. Fleetwood then found three birdies in the space of four holes from the 12th to the 15th to reclaim the lead and give new hope to his fans and the neutrals keen to see the drought ended.
Instead with playing partner Rose catching fire, Fleetwood, a seven-time winner on the DP Tour, spluttered in the crunch with a scrappy par on the long 16th, an ugly bogey on the 17th and a meek par on the last which left him in a tie for third alongside Scheffler. His 163rd Tour start at next week's BMW Championship in Maryland will be the next opportunity to scratch the wretched itch.
TOUGH STRETCH: Tommy Fleetwood, of England, walks on the 18th green during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
"I don't know [how I'm feeling] yet. I did a lot of good things today. I'm getting close," Fleetwood said afterwards. "That's the good side of it. I just didn't quite do enough. Those last three holes, the bogey on 17, I'm obviously disappointed. It's hard right? It's hard to win. Just didn't get it done. You can look at what you wish you could have done, shoulda, woulda, coulda, but I also want to look at the stuff I did do well. I felt like I had scrambled well...[then] it was really rolling. But as always you want to need to know what it takes to make that final step and win."
Rose's red-hot run began at the 14th with four-straight birdies which pushed him into a tie for the lead on 16-under. US Open champion Spaun had also finished with a flourish birdying 16 and 17. About 15 minutes apart both men missed putts which would have pushed them to victory without the need for a playoff.
Instead the destination of the first title of the 2025 playoff season would go beyond the regulation 72 holes. The playoff began with instant drama when Spaun found the very fringes of the fairway only for Rose to then send his drive within a whisper of disaster, the ball nestling millimetres from the pond which skirts the left side of the 18th.
The veteran was left with an unstable, perilous stance, his heels hovering over the water. But with just 101 yards in, Rose had the chance for a remarkable recovery given Spaun had left himself with a lengthy birdie look. Rose fired an impressive wedge and gave himself an almost identical 13-foot putt to the one he'd missed in regulation to win.
He stood and watched as Spaun, who'd holed a monster putt to seal his US Open triumph at Oakmont in June, almost did the same with his birdie effort which lipped out. Rose came even closer as his potential winner rolled over the right edge of the hole but somehow didn't drop.
Back to the 18th tee they went as some Ryder Cup-style 'USA' chants were heard from the Memphis crowds. Rose hit a booming beauty to the middle of the fairway this time around. Spaun left himself another long-range attempt in the fat part of the green and Rose scented the moment, sending his gap wedge to eight feet on the low side of the hole.
Remarkably, Spaun produced another long-range epic through the shadows from 30 feet for birdie. Rose responded and they would play the 18th yet again. This time with a new hole location hastily cut by course staff.
Both peppered the new pin but it was Rose who held his nerve, rattling in his 11-footer with Spaun then missing from four feet closer. It marked a 12th PGA Tour win for Rose, who is revelling in this fresh and rich vein of form.
"I played unbelievable golf down the stretch. I was having so much fun with it. It was a lot of fun today. That's why I practice. That's why I play. It's a very gratifying day for me and a lot of hard work coming to fruition," he said afterwards.
"Obviously there's a lot of cheering for JJ and U-S-A chants, you've got to respect where you're at. Ryder Cup is just around the corner so I completely understand. But this is going to be a fun one for us to celebrate."
Much earlier Shane Lowry had finished a disappointing opening to the playoff campaign as a second-successive 71 left him on three-over overall, languishing in a tie for 59th in a field of 69, left at an off number after compatriot McIlroy opted not to play and save himself for next week in Maryland.