Fabian Gomez of Argentina claimed his first victory on the PGA Tour, closing with a 4-under-par 66 to beat Greg Owen of England by four strokes in the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn.
The 36-year-old Gomez, who joined Roberto DiVicenzo, Angel Cabrera, Andres Romero and his mentor Jose Coceres as the only Argentine winners on the PGA Tour, punctuated his victory with a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole.
“I’m so happy to win (on the PGA Tour),” said Gomez, whose 11 previous pro victories included the 2010 Chitimacha Louisiana Open on the Web.com Tour. “It was great to see the Argentine flag on the course. I’m sure (Cabrera and Coceres) are happy about it.
“I slept well last night, had a nice barbecue at the hotel. Tried to keep playing the same way I played the last three days. And I tried to keep my mind blank and enjoy the round.
“Winning a tournament is a big difference. You have a two-year exemption (on the PGA Tour.”
Owen, whose biggest pro victory came in the 2003 British Masters, had a two-stroke lead after making two birdies on the first seven holes, but could not keep pace with Gomez and finished with a 70.
Phil Mickelson, preparing for his second attempt to complete the Career Grand Slam next week in the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, collected eight birdies in a 65 to wind up five shots back in a tie for third with Michael Thompson (66), Brooks Koepka (70), Seung-Yul Noh (65) of South Korea and Matt Jones (68) of Australia.
“I’m feeling a lot better about heading into the U.S. Open after this week than I did after last,” said Mickelson, who recorded his third top-10 finish of the season, including a tie for second in the Masters.
“I hit a lot of good shots and was able to control my miss, and it was nice to see that putts started to fall.”
Reigning FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel shot 65 finish six strokes behind in a tie for eighth with Chad Campbell (68), Boo Weekley (71) and Russell Knox (66) of Scotland.
