Zalatoris goes top of FedEx table after first Tour title

MEMPHIS • It took an extraordinary and unpredictable three-hole play-off but Will Zalatoris finally landed his maiden PGA Tour title by defeating Austrian Sepp Straka on Sunday to win the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee.

The American's victory in the first leg of the FedEx Cup play-offs gave him the US$2.7 million (S$3.72 million) prize and 2,000 points that pushed him into first place on the leaderboard, ahead of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, with two tournaments to go, including the season-ending Tour Championship.

After both players made difficult par saves on their second play-off hole, they headed to TPC Southwind's par-three 11th, where there was a water hazard in front of the green.

Zalatoris' tee shot landed short, bounced side to side and eventually came to rest on the brick facade separating land and water.

But Straka hit an even poorer tee shot, glancing off a grass berm and into the water. He had to take a drop, landed his next shot in a bunker and finally hit the green on his fourth shot.

That meant Zalatoris, ranked No. 14 in the world entering the week, did not need to swing from the bricks. He took a penalty stroke, went to the drop area, landed his third shot about eight feet from the hole and saved bogey to beat Straka.

"It was a grind," he said through tears. "This week, I didn't have my best stuff on Thursday and just kept telling (caddie Joel Stock), just keep waiting till the weekend. To kind of see that decision pay off at the last is pretty cool."

Zalatoris, who turns 26 today, is best known for several close misses at Majors. He finished second at last year's Masters before he was technically a full PGA Tour member. This year, he finished second at the PGA Championship by losing to Justin Thomas in a play-off and also tied for second at the US Open.

He is also known as a shaky putter from short distances, but he rolled in a 10-foot par putt at the par-four 18th hole to cap a four-under 66 and head to the clubhouse at 15-under 265.

It was a must-have par save and Straka, who had been seeking his second PGA Tour title after winning the Honda Classic in February, missed a long birdie putt to win the tournament in regulation and settled for a three-under 67 to tie Zalatoris.

They finished three shots ahead of Americans Lucas Glover (66) and Brian Harman (67).

Only the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings will move on to this week's BMW Championship in Wilmington, Delaware.

The field will be whittled down to just 30 for the Tour Championship finale.

REUTERS