– Tommy Fleetwood (-14) has maintained the lead in the FedEx St. Jude Championship after signing a card of 69 strokes in the third round. It’s curious because the Englishman has done almost nothing wrong, but he hasn’t managed to maximise his score as he should have, and his lead at the top has been reduced to just one stroke with Justin Rose (-13) and, much worse for his interests, two strokes with Scottie Scheffler (-12), who posted the best result of the day at TPC Southwind in Memphis (a round of 65 strokes). Oh, Scottie, who leaves no one in peace and aspires to devour everything every day, in every tournament.
– The comeback of the World Number One, who will play tomorrow in the penultimate match, doubles the challenge for Tommy Fleetwood, who not only faces the long-awaited chance to win for the first time on the PGA Tour, but will also have to do so competing for victory in the final round with the best player of the moment, among other contenders, who is also on track to become one of the best in history (according to some parameters, such as the number of weeks he has been World Number One, he already is). It’s true that when Scheffler is in a tournament, he usually arrives with a chance of victory at the final stage, but let’s not exaggerate: not even he always starts two strokes behind the leader with 18 holes to go. That’s what you’ve got, Tommy. You’ll have to do it in style, if Scottie lets you.
– The problem for the Englishman and the rest of the contenders is that, moreover, the best version of the Texan doesn’t seem to have been seen yet. Today, for example, he wasn’t superb from tee to green. Not at least in that consistent way, so typical of him. But it doesn’t matter to him, he almost always finds a way to appear among the chosen ones. Today, above all, he did it through the putter: he was the best on the greens.
– Let’s not forget Justin Rose, the man who embarked on a very complicated mission last January and is about to complete it, which was to get back into the European Ryder team. Fleetwood won’t miss the appointment at Bethpage either, of course. Both Justin and Tommy will tee off this Sunday in the star match, with Scheffler and J. J. Spaun (-11) in the match ahead. These four names, along with Andrew Novak (-11), really narrow down the list of true contenders.
– Let’s focus a bit more on these last two matches of the decisive round. In them are the winner of the PGA and The Open (Scheffler), the US Open (Spaun) and the guy who played a playoff at the Masters (Rose) against Rory McIlroy. All very Grand, as you can see, for just the first playoff. The PGA Tour flexes its muscles.
– The battle to get into or stay out of the second playoff is heating up. Right now, after 54 holes, the projection warns of up to five changes, an unusual figure. If things end as they are at this moment, Cauley, Kirk, Kitayama, Fowler, and Vegas would enter the top 50 and push out Clark, Potgieter, Spieth, Knapp, and Min Woo Lee. Fortunately, things won’t end as they are at this moment, at least not without the excitement overflowing throughout the fourth round.
– Fleetwood acknowledges that his situation, that of the eternal contender, arouses the classic and inevitable sporting intrigue, but his discourse on the matter is impeccable. This is what he said just after finishing the third round:
“Last time I was very close. I led the tournament for so long and didn’t win, so I thought: Yes, there’s something in me, it’s been hard for me to win here, and I still haven’t done it, but the best I can do is get back in that position as soon as possible. It’s just another opportunity to try to play the best round of golf possible, enjoy that position. The more I put myself there, the more chances I have for it to happen, and I just go out and keep learning from each experience. Tomorrow could be my day, it might not be, but being there is the most important thing, and I’ll keep trying. I’d rather be there and fail than not be there. Either way, it’s a good thing. Yes, it hurts when it doesn’t happen, and these kinds of streaks make people talk about it more and more… Obviously, it’s not my favourite moment. But I train very hard on my game, work very hard and enjoy being here for four days like these. All those times you go out on Sunday in 40th, 30th, or 20th place you can have a great day and feel good, but it’s just not the same as being in contention. As I say, I just look forward to the opportunities and keep giving myself the chance to chase my dreams, and whether they come true tomorrow, next week, or the following, that’s another story. But still, I look forward to it.”
Not much more can be said or said better. Tommy is exactly that: impeccable.
