Tommy Fleetwood clings to one-stroke St Jude lead over Justin Rose
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Tommy Fleetwood of England hits a tee shot on the 18th hole during the third round of the St. Jude Championship.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – Tommy Fleetwood, chasing his first PGA Tour title, clung to a one-stroke lead over fellow Englishman Justin Rose after the third round of the St Jude Championship on Aug 9.
He closed with a bogey to fire a one-under 69 and stand on 14-under 196 after 54 holes at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, in the first event of the FedExCup play-offs.
“I’ve been really good off the tee, which is a strong quality around this golf course,” Fleetwood said.
“At times you would get into a nice flow and feel comfortable with your routine.”
Rose, the 2013 US Open champion and 2016 Olympic winner, closed with a birdie for 67 and finished on 197.
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler fired a 65 to stand third on 198, with fellow Americans J.J. Spaun, the 2025 US Open champion, and Andrew Novak sharing fourth on 199.
Fleetwood, who was making his 162nd PGA Tour start, has six runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour, including a joint-second in June’s Travelers Championship.
“I would way rather be there and fail than not be there at all, so either way, it’s a good thing,” the 34-year-old added of his lack of a PGA Tour title.
“Yeah, it hurts when it doesn’t happen for you and that sort of streak and people talk about it more and more. Obviously it’s not my favourite time.
“It has taken me a long time to win out here and I still haven’t done it.
“The more I put myself there, the more chance there is of it happening and just go out and keep learning from every experience.
“Tomorrow might be my day. It might not. But being there is the most important thing and I’ll continue to try and do that.”
Rose was runner-up to Rory McIlroy at the Masters and had two top-20 finishes – sixth at the Scottish Open and 16th at the British Open – in July.
“Coming off a couple weeks off, I couldn’t have asked to be in a better spot,” said the 45-year-old.
Scheffler, trying to become the first player to retain the play-offs crown, is the points leader and has won four of five prior events in 2025 when in the top five after 54 holes.
Spaun, 34, made one of the biggest moves in the third round.
He matched Scheffler’s 65 to advance from a tie for 11th to a tie for fourth at 11-under 199. Novak is also at 199 after making back-to-back pars to finish on 67.
“I struck my irons a lot better than I had all week,” said Spaun.
“I started to get it more in the fairway too, so it was kind of a good combination of everything starting to click.”
The top 70 on the season points list qualified for the tournament with the top 50 advancing to the Aug 14-17 BMW Championship.
The top 30 after the BMW progress to the Aug 21-24 Tour Championship. AFP, REUTERS
