August 15, (THEWILL) –Â At the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis, Will Zalatoris defeated Austria’s Sepp Straka on the third play-off hole to secure his first PGA Tour victory.
The 25-year-old American, who has been second in three majors, shot a four-under 66 to finish at 15 under par after entering the day in third place, one shot back of 29-year-old Straka, who recorded a 67. With a dismal round of 78, previous overnight leader JJ Spaun finished on five under, tied for 42nd, while Cameron Smith finished on nine under following a two-shot penalty.
After coming in second place at the Masters in 2021, Zalatoris was named PGA Tour rookie of the year, a feat he repeated at the PGA Championship and US Open this year again as that crucial Tour victory seemed to elude the Texan time after time.
The Irishman Straka, who in February defeated Shane Lowry of Ireland to win his maiden Tour event at Palm Beach, forced the play-off at TPC Southwind after pulling back a stroke on Zalatoris in the back nine. But, finally, the pair was split on the third play-off hole after Straka was unable to match Zalatoris’ bogey on the par-3 11th to give the latter victory.
Seven players, including Englishmen Matthew Fitzpatrick and Jon Rahm from Spain, finished on 11 under par, while Americans Brian Harman and Lucas Glover were tied for third place on 12 under.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
