Nigeria: Rose Wins Play-Off As Fleetwood's PGA Wait Goes On

13 August 2025
Daily Trust (Abuja)

Justin Rose beat JJ Spaun in a nail-biting play-off to win the St Jude Championship, his first PGA Tour title in more than two years.

The 45-year-old Englishman had lost on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off with Rory McIlroy at this year's Masters.

But this time the world number 20 held his nerve to take it to a third sudden-death hole with American Spaun at TPC Southwind in Memphis.

Both hit par on their first go at the 18th hole and birdied their second, before Spaun failed to follow suit after Rose claimed another birdie.

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That gave Rose his 12th PGA Tour title while compatriot Tommy Fleetwood's wait for his first win goes on after he had gone into the final round of his 162nd event on the US circuit with a one-stroke lead.

The world number 15, a seven-time winner on the European Tour, bogeyed the penultimate hole to relinquish a share of the lead and finish one adrift of Rose and Spaun, tied for third with world number one Scottie Scheffler.

The 34-year-old bogeyed his first hole of the day and had to settle for par on the next 10, but it looked as though he could finally claim his maiden PGA win as he produced a run of three birdies in four holes from the 12th.

Fleetwood has the highest PGA Tour earnings without a victory, with his runner-up finish to Keegan Bradley at the Travelers Championship in June taking him past $31.4m (£23.3m).

He has now had six top-five finishes this season and 29 on the US tour - 11 more than any other player without a win over the past 40 years, ahead of Brett Quigley with 18.

Despite a disappointing tournament in Memphis, Fleetwood has booked his place on Europe's Ryder Cup team in September.

Fleetwood will be joined by Rose in Luke Donald's side, while Spaun, along with two-time major winner Xander Schauffele, confirmed their places in Keegan Bradley's United States team.

Scotland's Robert MacIntyre, Englishman Tyrrell Hatton and Austria's Sepp Straka occupy the final three European automatic places for qualification, which ends after the British Masters in two weeks' time.

Americans Russell Henley, Bryson DeChambeau and Harris English are in the USA's final three automatic spots, with their qualification ending after Sunday's BMW Championship.

Rose became the first player in his 40s to win on Tour this season, claiming his first title since the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February 2023.

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