Harris English gets first win in Memphis
Harris English overcame several challengers, including another collapse on Sunday by Scott Stallings, to claim his first career PGA Tour win at the 2013 FedEx St. Jude Classic.
What Happened
English entered Sunday in the final group alongside Shawn Stefani, but several players with go-low ability were within a few shots, including Stallings, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson. As has been customary over the past few weeks, Stallings looked to be in control for most of the day after four birdies on the front nine, and with both English and Stefani struggling to stay around even par, Stallings had a three-shot lead as late as the 15th tee. Then, it all fell apart with a double bogey, and even though he got one back with a birdie on 16, his bogey on 18 ensured that he would only get to 10-under par. Mickelson was making a good charge, with three birdies in his last five holes, but he too would wind up two short of English, who after two birdies on 16 and 17, would tap in for par on 18 for a two-shot victory.
Final Leaderboard
- 1. Harris English -12
- T2. Scott Stallings -10
- T2. Phil Mickelson -10
- 4. Ryan Palmer -9
- 5. Patrick Reed -8
What The Win Means For English
Well, it gets him into Augusta next year, but the win doesn’t get him into the U.S. Open at Merion next week. English was a pretty highly touted amateur player when coming out of the University of Georgia a few years ago, playing in that same amateur class as players like Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay and Peter Uihlein, and you could argue that he’s had the most success of any of them to this point. English has been playing pretty well on the PGA Tour this season with three top-10 finishes, and there have been many people predicting that this win was just a matter of time. In the immediate future, English earns 500 FedEx Cup points, moving him into 13th in the rankings for this year, plus he takes home just north of $1 million for winning the event.
Phil Mickelson
Mickelson makes a point of trying to play the week before each major championship, and to be honest, he played way better here this week than I thought he would. It’s actually a pretty decent set up the week before a U.S. Open because TPC Southwind is pretty tight, and forces players to shape shots into smaller fairways, and Mickelson handled things well this week, with a solid runner-up finish. He appears to be in good form heading to the U.S. Open, the one event that he’d tell you he wants more than anything at this point. As always, he’s going to be an interesting guy to watch next week.
Patrick and Justine Reed
There aren’t many wives who would be willing to come out and caddie for their husbands, but many people were introduced to Justine Reed this week, who has been looping for Patrick Reed for a little while now. Thing is, she’s pretty small, and I’m almost positive that the tour bag is the same size she is.
How To Make A Quad Bogey Seven
Stefani had a bit of a tough time on the par-3 11th in Saturday’s third round, as you can see below:
Ugly Scorecard Of The Week
Tim Clark shot an opening round 69 and looked to be in good shape to contend, but his second round 79 forced him to miss the cut. So, what happened? The 4-over par on the front nine didn’t help, but he was even on the back going to the 18th. Then…
Yeah, that’ll do it.
Lucky Bounce Of The Week
I can honestly say that I’ve never seen this before. In English’s third round, he drives the ball in the rough and his approach goes way left as you can see below.
Then, it goes off the spectator tent, hits a fan and lands in the bunker.
Other Notes
- Notables to miss the cut: Seung-yul Noh, Bud Cauley, Ken Duke, Brandt Snedeker, Freddie Jacobson, Jimmy Walker, Guan Tianlang, Derek Ernst, Tim Clark, D.A. Points and David Duval.
- Luke List and Matt Bettencourt both withdrew from the event, with List not giving an explanation, while Bettencourt came down with an illness. Bettencourt did qualify for the U.S. Open at sectionals, so he’s going to want to make sure that he’s ready to go in a few days.
- Not the run-up to the U.S. Open that Snedeker wanted, with his fourth missed cut now in seven starts.
- Third consecutive top-4 finish for Stallings, but also another Sunday where he gave it away at the end.
- Joost Luiten won the European Tour stop in Austria this week, defeating Thomas Bjorn by two strokes.
AdamSarson.com 