Lucas Glover didn’t make it easy on himself.
After nearly watching his lead slip away in what was a hot Sunday afternoon in Memphis, Glover finished his day perfectly. Glover expertly parred the first playoff hole to defeat Patrick Cantlay and win the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
The win marked the sixth of Glover’s career, and his second in as many weeks. It also jumped him up to No. 4 in the FedExCup standings.
“You work hard no matter what, whether you’re fighting something or you’re playing great, you just work hard because you never know when it can turn,” Glover said on CBS. “It’s turned very quickly for me, and luckily I’m in a good frame of mind to take advantage of it.”
Glover, who was drenched in sweat and even dunked his hands into the cooler at the final tee box to try and keep them cool, didn’t take any chances at the first playoff hole — though he didn’t need to. Cantlay, who posted a 6-under 64 in his final round, hit his tee shot in the water along the left side of the fairway. Glover’s drive was perfect down the middle, and his approach shot landed about 22 feet from the pin.
While Cantlay’s approach was almost identical, it didn’t matter. Glover’s putt settled less than a foot from the cup, and he easily tapped in for par. Cantlay’s putt was off the mark, which sealed the win for Glover.
Glover is now the first golfer older than 40 to win a FedExCup Playoff event since Tiger Woods did so in 2008. Glover, 43, now has more wins in his 40s than he did in his 20s. This season is also the first in which he’s had multiple wins.
Glover only made the FedExCup Playoffs thanks to his win at the Wyndham Championship last week. He was No. 112 in the standings entering that week in North Carolina, and the win moved him up to No. 49 — which was well inside the top-70 who qualified for this week’s event in Memphis.
Glover took a one-shot lead over Jordan Spieth after Friday’s round, and then posted a 4-under 66 on Saturday to maintain the solo lead. He entered Sunday’s round having made just two bogeys through 54 holes, and his 66 was the sixth round in his last seven where he’s shot 66 or better.
Even with that 66, though, Glover wasn’t happy with himself.
“It was scrappy, would be how I would describe that day,” Glover said Saturday. “Parts of it you could remove the ‘S.’ I got a lot out of what I had. Short game bailed me out a lot early, and missed a couple putts I thought I should have made coming in.
“But three months ago if I’d have been mad at 66 or if you told me I’d be mad at 66, I’d say you were crazy.”
Glover’s consistency continued on Saturday, though it took a lot of work on his part to keep that up. He birdied once through his first 10 holes of the day, and managed to save par on the other nine holes despite missing six greens in regulation. He was scrambling once again, but it was working.
It wasn’t until the par-3 14th that Glover made his first real mistake. After making another huge save on the previous hole, Glover’s tee shot landed in the water to the right of the green. Yet Glover minimized the damage again. He sank a 30-footer to save his bogey, which was his first on the back nine all week.
That bogey, however, ended up dropping Glover into second. Cantlay made back-to-back bogeys at the 15th and 16th ahead of Glover to take the solo lead for the first time.
Glover, after just missing a birdie chance at the 15th, tapped-in for birdie at the par-5 16th to retake a share of the lead. He scrambled again to save par at the 17th after his drive landed under a tree in the rough, which sent him to the final hole tied up with Cantlay. Though he reached the green in regulation, Glover’s birdie putt was just about a foot short — which sent him to the playoff with Cantlay.
Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood finished in third at 14-under, and Taylor Moore finished in fifth at 12-under on the week.
The top 50 in the FedExCup standings will now advance to the BMW Championship next week, which marks the second of three events this postseason. The top 30 after next Sunday will then move on to the Tour Championship.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.