Former Clemson All-American Lucas Glover remains hot, wins consecutive PGA Tour event
Lucas Glover won the FedEx St. Jude Championship and a consecutive PGA tournament with a final score of -15 and 265 (66-64-66-69) on Sunday. He also won a second tournament in a season for the first time in his 22-year career.
The former Clemson All-American entered the final round of the FedEx St. Jude at -14 with a one-stroke advantage over Taylor Moore and three in front of Jordan Spieth (2015 FedEx Cup champion) and Max Homa after leading the tournament for two-full days.
Glover, 43, maintained the lead until Patrick Cantlay, the 2021 FedExCup champion, tied things up with a birdie on the 16th hole. He would drop into second with a bogey on the 14th but climb back to a tie with Cantlay, who was already in the clubhouse, after a birdie on the 16th.
The Greenville native had two holes (17th, 18th) to hit one final birdie to take the win but left a birdie attempt just short on 18 to set up a playoff with Cantlay.
In the playoff, Cantlay's tee shot on the 18th hole rolled into the water and Glover made par to win a sixth career PGA tournament.
Ironically, before Sunday’s playoff win, Glover won the 2011 Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, NC in a sudden-death playoff over former Clemson teammate Jonathan Byrd.
Glover is now fourth in the FedExCup standings and moves on to play in next week's BMW Championship with 49 other golfers at Olympia Fields Country Club (North Course) in Olympia Fields, IL. In two weeks, the final 30 players will proceed to East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta for the TOUR Championship.
Glover won $3.6 million of the $20 million purse and 2000 FedEX points by winning the FedEx St. Jude Championship and is now in contention to win the FedExCup Championship and $18 million of the $75 million total purse pool.
A spot in the FedExCup playoffs wasn't even secured for Glover, who was facing elimination from the FedEx Cup standings until he won last week's Wyndham Championship. After changing his putter in June, he finished T20 at the RBC Canadian Open and landed in the top six in three of five tournaments before the Wyndham Championship.
Glover was asked after Sunday's win, 'If I would have told you at the beginning of June, you'd win in back to back weeks including the first FedExCup playoff event thanks in large part to your putting, what would you have told me?'
"I'd hire you a therapist," he replied on the TPC Southwind golf course after the win. "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 and it's turned very quickly for me and luckily [I've] been in a good frame of mind to take advantage of it."
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Glover Wins FedEx St. Jude Championship
Clemson, SC—Former Clemson All-American Lucas Glover won the FedEx St. Jude Classic in a one-hole playoff with Patrick Cantlay on Sunday eventing. It was the second consecutive week that Glover has won on the PGA tour, a first for any former Clemson golfer.
Glover was one of three former Clemson golfers who had outstanding Sundays. Former Clemson All-American Jacob Bridgeman finished on the Korn Ferry Tour with a 15-under-par total and former Clemson women’s golfer Alice Hewson shot a 68 on Sunday to finish 16 at the AIG Women’s Open in England.
Glover moved from 49th to fourth in the FedEx Cup standings and now moves on to the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields in Chicago, Illinois next week. By reaching that tournament in Chicago, Glover is assured of being invited to all eight of the PGA Tour’s “Designated Events” in 2024
He is also a lock to advance to the FedEx Cup Championship tournament in Atlanta in two weeks, an event that will have the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup rankings. Glover is the first former Clemson golfer to win a FedEx Cup Playoff tournament.
Glover is the first golfer 43 years or age or older to win consecutive PGA Tour events since the 2008 season when Vijay Singh accomplished the feat. He is the first golfer 40 years or older to win a FedEx Cup Playoff event since Tiger Woods won the FedEx Cup Championship Tournament in Atlanta in 2018.
This was Glover’s sixth win on the PGA Tour. With this victory he broke a tie for total victories on the PGA Tour by a former Clemson golfer, as his former Clemson teammate Jonathan Byrd has five wins.
For Glover it continued his incredible run at the end of the season. Ranked 185th on the FedEx Cup rankings in June, he has finished in the top six in five of his last six events to move all the way to fourth in the rankings. This is the first time he has had five top 6 finishes on the PGA Tour in the same year since 2009, the year he won the United States Open. He had a person best six top 6 finishes in 2006.
Glover had rounds of 66-64-66-69 for a 265 total at the St. Jude Championship, the same total Cantlay had after 72 holes. The two players went back to the 18th tee for the playoff and Cantlay hit his drive into the water left of the fairway. Glover hit his drive down the middle. That proved to be the difference as Glover made par on the 448-yard par 4 and Cantlay made a bogey. It was the first bogey of the day for Cantlay, who had shot a bogey free 64 on Sunday to tie Glover.
Glover, who played at Clemson from 1998-2001 and was a two time first-team All-American, made 110 feet of putts on Sunday, including putts of 20’6” on the 13th hole and 29’ 8” on the 14th hole to save pars. He also made a clutch 11’ 4” putt on the 17th hole for par after he had driven the ball into the tree line.
Glover won the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro last week to advance into the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He was ranked as the #53 golfer in the world entering the St. Jude Classic and most certainly will move up in the rankings that will be released Monday morning.
With the victory, Glover took home $3.6 million, the largest check won by any former Clemson golfer in history.