Lucas Glover defeated Patrick Cantlay in a playoff to win for the second straight week, claiming the FedEx St. Jude Championship title on Sunday in Memphis, Tenn.
Glover, 43, won last week’s regular-season finale, the Wyndham Championship, to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs at the last possible moment. Now he’s gotten hot at the right time — and projected to jump from No. 49 to No. 4 in the FedEx Cup points standings.
Glover and Cantlay went back to replay the par-4 18th hole at TPC Southwind to begin the playoff. Cantlay’s tee shot dribbled down into a water hazard, leaving Glover to play for par. Cantlay barely missed a 22-foot par attempt to force a second playoff hole.
Glover shot a 1-under 69 on Sunday, while Cantlay fired a bogey-free, 6-under 64 to get into the clubhouse at 15-under 265. Tommy Fleetwood of England missed a birdie putt that would have tied him with Cantlay, and he settled for a round of 68 and a tie for third at 14 under with Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland (65 on Sunday).
A mid-afternoon weather delay suspended play for 97 minutes before Glover, the 54-hole leader, teed off in the final pairing with Taylor Moore.
Glover made one birdie and all pars for his first 13 holes, but his tee shot at the par-3 14th hole found the water hazard and led him to bogey and drop to 14 under, behind Cantlay.
Glover got that stroke back by birdieing the par-5 16th hole. He made a critical par save at No. 17 and couldn’t sink a 22 1/2-foot birdie try at No. 18 for the outright win.
Only the top 50 players in the FedEx Cup points standings will advance to next week’s BMW Championship, the second leg of the three-week playoffs. Two players who started outside the top 50 played their way in.
Cam Davis of Australia shot a final-round 67 to tie for sixth at 11 under and jump from No. 62 to No. 45. Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama finished birdie-eagle-birdie-par to card a 65 and tie for 16th at 9 under — leaping from No. 57 to No. 47.
–Field Level Media