Washington (AFP) – Tommy Fleetwood, chasing his first US PGA Tour title, clung to a one-stroke lead over fellow Englishman Justin Rose after Saturday’s third round of the PGA St. Jude Championship. Fleetwood closed with a bogey to fire a one-under par 69 and stand on 14-under 196 after 54 holes at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, in the first FedEx Cup playoff event.
“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.”
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Rose, the 2013 US Open champion and 2016 Olympic winner, closed with a birdie to shoot 67 and finish on 197. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler fired a 65 to stand third on 198, with fellow Americans J.J. Spaun, the US Open champion, and Andrew Novak sharing fourth on 199.
Fleetwood, a seven-time winner on the DP World Tour making his 162nd PGA Tour start, has six runner-up finishes on the US tour, including a playoff loss to US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley 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,” Fleetwood said of his lacking a PGA 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 favorite 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.”
Scheffler, trying to become the first player to defend the playoff crown, is the Cup points leader and has won four of five prior events this year when in the top five after 54 holes.
Fleetwood grabbed the lead by one over Rose with a 14-foot birdie putt at the 12th to reach 14-under, and Rose fell two adrift with a bogey after missing the green at the par-three 14th. Rose and Fleetwood each birdied the par-five 16th, Rose tapping in after reaching the green in two and Fleetwood making a putt from just inside 14 feet.
Rose found the left rough off the 17th tee, punched out shy of the green, and made bogey to stumble three back. But Fleetwood needed three to reach the green at the 18th hole and missed a 29-foot par putt for a bogey while Rose sank a birdie putt from just inside five feet to pull within one.
– Early Fleetwood stumble –
Fleetwood carried a three-stroke lead over Rose into the third round but stumbled early, following a birdie at the second hole with a double bogey at the par-five third, finding water with his second shot and a greenside bunker with his fourth. Rose was in hot pursuit with a 16-foot birdie putt at the third, a stunning 36-foot birdie putt at the fifth, and a tap-in birdie at the sixth after his approach landed inches from the hole.
Fleetwood made a bogey at the seventh to leave Rose alone in the lead, and Rose followed with a birdie at the seventh, but Rose found water at the ninth and made bogey while Fleetwood birdied the ninth to share the lead again.
The top 70 on the season points list qualified for this week’s tournament, with the top 50 advancing to next week’s BMW Championship. The top 30 after the BMW advance to the Tour Championship.
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