Fleetwood clings to a PGA St. Jude head on pink on pink

Tommy Fleetwood, to continue his first title of American PGA Tour, hung on to an advance in one blow against his English colleague Justin Rose after the third round of the PGA St. Jude championship.

Fleetwood closed with a Bogey to dismiss one by 69 less and stand on 14-me 196 after 54 holes at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, during the first event of the Fedex qualifiers.

“I was really good out of the tee, which is a strong quality around this golf course,” said Fleetwood. “Sometimes you would enter a good flow and feel comfortable with your routine.”

Rose, US Open 2013 champion and 2016 Olympic winner, closed with a birdie to shoot 67 and finish 197.

Scottie Scheffler, better classified, drew a 65 to stay third in 198 with his American colleagues JJ SPAUN, the United States champion, and Andrew Novak sharing fourth on 199.

Fleetwood, seven times winner of the DP World Tour, making its 162nd PGA Tour Start, finished second in the American tour, including a defeat in the playoff series for the captain of the Ryder Cup, Keegan Bradley, in the Travelers of June.

“I prefer to be there and fail to be there at all, so anyway, it’s a good thing,” said Fleetwood about his PGA title. “Yeah, it hurts when it does not happen for you and this kind of sequence and people are talking about it more and more. Obviously, this is not my favorite moment.

“It took me a long time to save here and I still haven’t done it. The more I put myself there, the more likely there is a chance to perform and go out and continue to learn from each experience.

“Tomorrow could be my day. It may not be. But being there is the most important thing and I will continue to try to do this.”

Scheffler, trying to become the first player to defend the crown of the playoffs, is the leader in the cup points and won four of the five previous events this year in the top five after 54 holes.

Fleetwood grabbed his head with a pink with a 14th-foot stewed putt to the 12th to 14 sous and Rose fell on the Bogey after missing green in the 14th by-three.

Rose and Fleetwood each have to observe the 16th per-creq, pink tapping after reaching green in half and Fleetwood making a putt inside 14 feet.

Rose found the 17th tee Rough left, hit the green and made Bogey to trip three back.

But Fleetwood needed three to reach green in the 18th hole and missed a putt by 29 feet for a Bogey while Rose sank a five -foot sipt to shoot in one.

– Early Fleetwood Stumble –

Fleetwood brought a three-stroke advance on pink in the third round but stumbled early, after a birdie in the second hole with a double bogey in the third per-five, finding water with his second blow and a Greenside bunker with his fourth.

Rose was in pursuit with a 16 -foot stewed putt in the third, a superb 36 -foot stewed putt in the fifth and a soupting blade in the sixth after her approach landed a few centimeters from the hole.

Fleetwood did a seventh bogy to leave a quiet pink at the head and pink followed with a frying sinkie in the seventh, but Rose found water in the ninth and made Bogey while Fleetwood sorted out the ninth to share the head again.

The first 70s on the list of points of the season qualified for this week’s tournament, the top 50 advances to the BMW championship next week. The top 30 after the BMW is heading for the Tour championship.

JS / BB