Golf

Lucas Glover edges past Patrick Cantlay in playoff to claim back-to-back PGA Tour wins

43-year-old moves up to fourth in FedEx standings after holding off a packed field in Memphis

Lucas Glover poses with the trophy after winning the FedEx St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. Photograph: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Lucas Glover poses with the trophy after winning the FedEx St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. Photograph: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Mon Aug 14 2023 - 11:43

After winning last week’s PGA Tour regular-season finale, Lucas Glover said TPC Southwind, the next stop on tour, was one of the more underrated courses the pros play each year. He was glad to be making that trip at all. Now he’s doubled his pleasure by making it two wins in two weeks.

Glover made a par on the first playoff hole to defeat Patrick Cantlay and claim the FedEx St Jude Championship title on Sunday in Memphis.

Glover, 43, won last week’s Wyndham Championship to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs at the last possible moment. He jumped from 112th to 49th in the FedEx Cup standings – and Sunday’s victory in the first of three playoff events has rocketed him up to number four.

“You work hard no matter what, whether you’re fighting something or you’re playing great,” Glover said. “You just work hard because you never know when it can turn, and it’s turned very quickly for me. Luckily I’ve been in a good frame of mind to take advantage of it.”

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The only players ahead of Glover in the points standings now are arguably the three best players in the world: Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. Cantlay, whose tee shot at the first playoff hole found a water hazard, moved up to fifth thanks to his finish.

Glover beat not only Cantlay, but the likes of McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and Norway’s Viktor Hovland on Sunday.

“I said yesterday the guns would be coming, and they came,” Glover said. “I was just last man standing this week.”

Cantlay fired a bogey-free six-under 64 to be the first 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 McIlroy (65 on Sunday).

Glover, the 54-hole leader, posted a one-under 69 on Sunday after his birdie putt at the par-four 18th to win outright came up short.

He and Cantlay went back to replay the 18th to begin the playoff. Cantlay’s tee shot dribbled down into the water, leaving Glover to play for par. Cantlay barely missed a 22-foot par attempt that would have forced a second playoff hole.

“Yeah, just hooked the ball a little too much off the tee, bad shot, obviously, and paid the price,” Cantlay said.

A mid-afternoon weather delay suspended play for 97 minutes before Glover 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-three 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-five 16th hole. He made a critical 11-foot par save at the 17th after his tee shot missed the fairway far left and he had to punch out from under some trees.

“I had a lie that I thought I could get up close to the front of the green, low hook, and with playing ‘lift, clean and place’ out of the zoysia fairways, if you get it up there in the front, give yourself a good lie, you can spin it,” Glover said. “For a front pin, that’s all you can ask for. So that was the mindset.”

Moore faded to fifth place at 12 under, shooting a one-over 71. Spieth and Homa each shot a 70 to join a large tie for sixth at 11 under.

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 and jump from 62nd to 45th. Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama finished birdie-eagle-birdie-par to card a 65 and tie for 16th at nine under – leaping from 57th to 47th.

Séamus Power closed with a one-under 69 to finish on four over in Memphis but will move on to Chicago for the BMW in 35th place in the FedEx rankings and in need of a big week to break into the top 30 that will contest the Tour Championship in Atlanta.