Justin Rose tops J.J. Spaun in play-off to win St Jude Championship as Tommy Fleetwood falters again

WASHINGTON – Justin Rose reeled off four straight back-nine birdies to force a play-off, then birdied the third hole of sudden death to beat J.J. Spaun for the St Jude Championship on Aug 10 as Tommy Fleetwood endured more PGA Tour agony.

Englishman Rose, the 2013 US Open champion, had six birdies over his last eight holes including the play-off – climbing up the congested leaderboard with birdies at from the 14th to 17th holes in regulation.

His round of three-under 67 pulled him level with reigning US Open champion Spaun on 16-under 264 at TPC Southwind – where overnight leader Fleetwood had a two-shot lead with three holes remaining but faltered with a bogey at 17th for a 69 that left him in joint third with Scottie Scheffler (67) on 265.

Spaun carded a 65 in the final round, posting back-to-back birdies at the 16th and 17th – where he rolled in a 20-foot putt – to put himself in the play-off.

“That was an amazing last 90 minutes, really,” said Rose, the 45-year-old who finished runner-up to Rory McIlroy in a play-off at the Masters in April. “Played unbelievable golf coming down the stretch.”

He has been in good form with two top-20 finishes – sixth at the Scottish Open and 16th at the British Open – in July and a few weeks’ rest helped him enter the St Jude Championship, the first of three tournaments for the FedExCup, in optimal condition.

“Never stopped believing,” said Rose. “I’ve been saying for some time when I bring my best, I know I’m good enough to play and compete and to now win against the best players in the world, so very gratifying day for me and a lot of hard work kind of coming to fruition.”

This is his 12th PGA Tour title, and first since Pebble Beach in 2023.

He started the day one shot off the lead and was one over for the day through nine holes. His challenge seemed stalled after he followed a birdie at the 10th with a bogey at 12th, but a 15-foot birdie at the 14th launched his comeback.

He drained a nine-foot birdie at 15th, got up and down from a bunker for birdie at 16th and curled in a 23-foot birdie putt at 17th. His 13-footer for the outright win just missed and he and Spaun returned to the 18th for the play-off.

Both two-putted for par – Rose after a tee shot that nearly found the water. They posted matching birdies the next time around – Spaun drilling a 30-foot putt and Rose making his seven-footer.

At their third attempt, this time with a new hole location, Rose rattled in his 11-footer while Spaun sent his seven-foot birdie putt past the cup.

“It (stinks) to miss a seven-footer, but tricky read and I pulled it a little bit,” Spaun said. “But yeah, I hung in there the best I could and he beat me to the hole first. Just wasn’t meant to be.”

It was also disappointment for Fleetwood, a seven-time DP World Tour winner who has yet to win in 162 PGA Tour starts.

After an opening bogey and 10 straight pars, the Englishman rolled in a 33-foot birdie putt at the 12th and a 15-footer at the 13th to regain a one-shot lead, and he was two-up after a birdie at 15th.

Scheffler’s challenge was fading, but Spaun and Rose were pressing when Fleetwood settled for a par at the par-five 16th and hit a poor second shot and poor putt at 17th.

“I’m obviously going to be disappointed,” said Fleetwood, who was joint-second at June’s Travelers Championship in his sixth PGA Tour runner-up finish.

“There’s a lot of positives to take, as much as I don’t really feel like that right now. I’m just going to look at what I feel like I could have done and how close it was.”

World No. 1 Scheffler, whose four wins this season include two Majors, was tied for the lead through 13 holes in pursuit of a fifth 2025 triumph, but he could not keep pace as he closed with a 67.

He remained atop the play-off standings for the FedExCup. The top 50 advance to this week’s BMW Championship, where the top 30 will qualify for the Tour Championship. AFP