Zalatoris outlasts Straka in playoff to win St. Jude
It took an extraordinary and unpredictable three-hole playoff, 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.
Zalatoris’ victory in the first leg of the Fedex Cup Playoffs gave him 2,000 Cup points and pushed him into first on the leaderboard, ahead of Scottie Scheffler, with two tournaments to go.
After both players made difficult par saves on their second playoff hole, they headed to TPC Southwind’s par-3 11th, where a water hazard lies 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, didn’t need to swing from the bricks. He took a penalty stroke, went to the drop area, landed his third shot about 8 feet from the hole and saved bogey to beat Straka.
“It was a grind,” Zalatoris said through tears on the NBC broadcast. “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 Tuesday, is best known for several close misses at major championships early in his career. He finished second at the 2021 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 playoff and tied for second at the U.S. Open.
Zalatoris is also known as a shaky putter from short distances, but he rolled in a 10-foot par putt at the par-4 18th hole to cap off a 4-under 66 and head to the clubhouse at 15-under 265. With Straka one hole behind him on the course and Zalatoris missing the fairway off the tee, it was a must-have par save.
Straka missed a long birdie putt to win the tournament in regulation and settled for a 3-under 67 to tie Zalatoris at 15 under. They finished three shots ahead of Lucas Glover (66 Sunday) and Brian Harman (67).
Both Zalatoris and Straka parred the 18th for the first playoff hole and returned to the tee to play it again. Zalatoris missed far right while Straka’s shot barely avoided water to the left and settled in the rough.
Zalatoris laid up into the fairway, while Straka briefly considered playing the shot while standing in the water before electing to take a drop and a penalty stroke. His third shot stuck about 6 feet from the pin.
Zalatoris’ third shot also found the green and he made a longer par save. Straka followed with his putt to keep the playoff going.
Straka was seeking his second PGA Tour title after winning the Honda Classic in February.
“This course is where every shot you hit you’re on the edge of your seat. Add the nerves of competing for a tournament to that, especially a playoff event,” Straka said. “It can get a little crazy.”