The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PRO GOLF JUSTIN THOMAS WINS IN MEMPHIS, IS BACK AT NO. 1
Justin Thomas won the FedEx St. Jude Invitational on Sunday to take the No. 1 spot in the world for the first time since June 2018.
Thomas dueled defending champ Brooks Koepka down to the final holes, sealing the World Golf Championship win on the par-5 16th. Thomas took the lead for good with a second straight birdie, while Koepka bogeyed the hole.
Koepka pulled within a stroke with a 39-footer for birdie on No. 17, but he put his tee shot into the water along the 18th fairway on his way to double bogey, allowing Thomas to finish an easy par putt for what wound up a three-stroke win. Thomas closed with a 5-under 66 to finish at 13-under 267 for his 13th PGA Tour title. At 27, he’s the third-youngest since 1960 to reach 13 PGA Tour wins, after Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.
This was the fifth time Thomas rallied to win, and he matched his biggest comeback after starting the day four strokes back of leader Brendon Todd, the Atlanta resident and former Georgia Bulldog.
Thomas will supplant Jon Rahm, who became No. 1 two weeks ago. Koepka will go to San Francisco this week looking to defend his PGA championship title. He finished with a 69, tied for second with Phil Mickelson (67), Daniel Berger (65) and Tom Lewis (66).
Thomas started Sunday with Jim “Bones” Mackay on his bag playing in the same group with Mickelson for the first time since Mickelson split with his longtime caddie. Thomas made up the deficit with four birdies on the front nine and just missed another birdie chance on No. 8. His 20-footer on No. 9 tied Todd at 12 under.
Todd three-putted for bogey from 23 feet on the par-3 eighth, leaving Thomas alone in the lead. Thomas put his second on the par-4 12th into a bunker near the back edge and chopped it out to the rough. He chipped out from an awkward stance to salvage bogey. That created a five-way tie with Koepka, Berger, Lewis and Todd.
Koepka took the lead to himself on the par-4 13th. He hit his approach from 133 yards to 10 feet of the pin, and Koepka sunk the putt for his third birdie of the round to go to 12 under. After hitting his tee shot 321 yards to the rough 51 yards short of the hole on No. 15, Thomas hit to 6 feet for a birdie, tying Koepka at 12 under with three to play. Thomas found the rough far right of the cart path on the par-5 16th, then hit his third from the left rough 65 yards to 3 feet for his second straight birdie.
Koepka tried to answer 42 yards from the hole. His shot landed close to the hole only to keep rolling to the back of the green. Koepka wound up two-putting from 8 feet for bogey.
LPGA: Danielle Kang closed with a 2-under 70 in Toledo, Ohio, to win the LPGA Drive On Championship, the LPGA’s first event in more than five months.