St Jude Championship round up and SuperFores winner

“What they gonna say now,” was how Will Zalatoris greeted becoming a PGA Tour winner having been the king of close calls for a little over two years.

And what a way to finally prove to his doubters out there that he could deliver on the big stage; bouncing back from a one-over par Thursday start to win the FedEx St. Jude Championship on a bizarre third play-off hole.

Zalatoris has had a strong stretch on the PGA Tour, starting with the US Open in 2020, and has recorded 16 top 10s, six of which were in majors, and he’s moved up to 14th in the world. While it seemed a matter of time before he would win a Tour title, there is always a question mark until a player does. Now, albeit in dramatic circumstances, he has achieved his dream.

Just a week earlier the man from San Fran, who turns 26 on Tuesday, split from his long-time caddie, Ryan Goble, mid-tournament at the Wyndham Championship. His new bag-man Joel Stock was quick to have an impact.

On Thursday in Memphis, Zalatoris was reading his own putts on his way to his 71, but then the pair read the greens to hit a seven-under 63 on Friday to make the weekend. His five under 65 on Saturday paved the way for the exciting finish.

Zalatoris started the final day two shots behind overnight leader JJ Spaun and ended up closing out the 72 holes tied for the lead on 15 under with Austria’s Sepp Straka. The initial couple of play-off holes played on the 18th didn’t find a winner, so they headed up the par three 11th.  Zalatoris hit a stone wall between the green and water and after seven bounces somehow stayed dry, wedged between rock and soil next to the green. Straka hit it straight into the water and found the bunker from his drop. Stock persuaded Zalatoris to go back over the water rather than aim at a half visible ball. What would you have done (honestly)?

He pitched close, rolled in the putt and collected the £2.2m cheque.

Zalatoris wasn’t one of Compare Golf Prices’ selected SuperFores golfers at the FedEx event but Jon M did record the best predictions for Patrick Cantlay and Tony Finau’s rounds.  Jon wins the weekly Druids Ambassador Pack worth £99 prize. Cantlay finished tied 57th with rounds of 67, 68, 71 and 72 while Finau tied fifth with rounds of 64, 68, 69 and 68.

New Tour winner Zalatoris and Scottie Scheffler are this week’s selected SuperFores golfers at the BMW Championship to see if anyone can claim the £10,000 SuperFores bundle of golf gear.  

To get your SuperFores predictions in go to SuperFores entry