Justin Thomas simply hit the trifecta.
The 27-year-old Thomas, who already was No. 1 in the FedEx Cup point standings, shot 5-under-par 65 to come from four strokes behind and win the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational by three shots over Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Daniel Berger and Tom Lewis of England at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tenn.
With his 13th PGA Tour victory and third this season, Thomas will regain the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings when they are released tomorrow.
“It means a lot, especially how I did it, because in the past I’ve had trouble coming from behind to win,” said Thomas, who captured the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges and the Sentry Tournament of Champions earlier this season. “I was always looking at the leaderboard and what other guys were doing, instead of taking care of my own game. Today, I didn’t look at a leaderboard until the 13th hole.
“I got unbelievably lucky on my tee shot on 15, but that happens when you win. That calmed me down and I was able to stay patient and was able to hold on and win.”
Thomas’ tee shot on the 15th hole somehow escaped trouble, left him with only 51 yards to the green and he sank a six-foot putt for one of his six birdies in the final round en route to a winning score of 13-under 267.
Defending champion and sixth-ranked Koepka sank a 39-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to pull within one shot of Thomas, but hit his tee shot on the final hole into the water and made a double-bogey 6 to close with a 69.
Lewis, who tied the course record with a 61 in the third round, shot 66 despite two late bogeys, while Berger, who won twice at TPC Southwind before this tournament became a World Golf Championships event, finished at 65.
Xander Schauffele of La Jolla and San Diego State posted a bogey-free 66 and wound up four down in a tie for sixth with Jason Day (67) of Australia, Shane Lowry (67) of Ireland, Matthew Fitzpatrick (68) of England, Chez Reavie (68) and Louis Oosthuizen (68) of South Africa.
Brendon Todd, who led after the second and third rounds in search of his third title of the season and fourth of his career, struggled to a 75 and tied for 15th.
Fifth-ranked Dustin Johnson, who has won six WGC tournaments, totaled 67 and finished in a tie for 12th that included fourth-ranked Webb Simpson, who had a 68, while
seventh-ranked Bryson DeChambeau of Clovis carded a 67 to tie for 30th.
Tenth-ranked Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos and UCLA tied for 35th after a 67, while
second-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland shot 67 and finished in a tie for 47th that included eighth-ranked Patrick Reed, who came in at 70.
Jon Rahm of Spain, who became No. 1 in the world two weeks ago and was playing in his first event since then, closed with a 66 to tie for 52nd.
For complete results, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html
