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English wins his first in Memphis

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Following an afternoon with plenty of shuffling on the FedEx St. Jude Classic leaderboard, Harris English closed Sunday at the top to earn his first career PGA Tour victory.

A clutch birdie on the par-4 No. 17 at TPC Southwind earned English a two-shot lead with one hole to play, while a two-putt par on the last hole clinched the victory for the highly regarded Tour sophomore. The 23-year-old first-time winner — which there have now been nine of them this season — held off Phil Mickelson and Scott Stallings, who both finished two shots behind at 10-under.

English opened the day facing a one-shot deficit to Tour rookie Shawn Stefani, but his top competitors proved to be others also fighting from behind. This has been a commonality at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, as seven of the last eight winners have now come from behind on the final day.

Click here to see the clubs English used to win at TPC Southwind.

American winners have also been common-place at the event, with English becoming the 11th different American winner of the tournament since 2000. This season, 16 different Americans have won on Tour.

Fifty-four hole leader Stefani quickly lost his lead with an opening bogey and concluded the day with a round of 6-over, 76. He finished in a tie for seventh, matching his career-best finish on Tour.

Two-time Tour winner Stallings seemed to be the player to beat once the final group turned for the home stretch, after Stallings fired a front-nine 31. Stallings made the turn with momentum from consecutive birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 and eventually held a three-shot lead at 12-under, while English and Stefani both fell to 9-under thanks to back-to-back bogies on the same two holes where Stallings carded birdies.

English then jump-started his final nine with consecutive birdies and pulled within one of Stallings, but a three-putt bogey on No. 13 dropped him back to 10-under for the tournament.

Click here to see all the inside-the-ropes photos we snapped at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.

Things quickly changed once again, with Stallings chunking his approach shot into water on No. 15, resulting in a double-bogey. It opened the door for a number of competitors to threaten the lead on the inward half, including English, who was now tied for the lead.

Around the same time, another rookie, Patrick Reed, also fell off the pace. Back-to-back bogies on Nos. 14 and 15 holes dropped him back to 8-under, where he would finish for a career-best fifth-place showing.

Stallings carded a birdie on the par-5 No. 16 to gain a one-shot edge, while English pulled even with birdie on the same hole shortly after.

Mickelson quietly hung around throughout the day and appeared well off the lead following a bogey on the par-3 No. 11 hole, as he dropped to 7-under. But birdies on Nos. 14 and 16 pulled the veteran within striking distance down the stretch. After a typical Mickelson recovery shot that set up a par on No. 17, Lefty nearly holed his approach on the final hole. He settled for a kick-in birdie, a 10-under-par finish and a tie for second.

A slightly wayward tee-shot from Stallings forced him to play away from the water-guarded No. 18 pin. Then, a poorly struck chip shot left him with a lengthy par putt, which burned the edge and closed his tournament at 10-under as well.

Back on No. 17, English showed the poise that made him one of the most celebrated amateurs while he was at the University of Georgia. Despite hearing the roar from Mickelson’s approach, he made a strong shot of his own to set up his birdie putt on No. 17 that set up his final-round 69.

Ryan Palmer fired a final round of 3-under, 67, but settled for a fourth-place finish at 9-under, 271.

Gary Woodland posted Sunday’s low round of 6-under, 64, matching the low round of the tournament also posted by English and Reed. English tallied his 64 on Friday, vaulting him to the 36-hole lead at 10-under par.

Defending champion Dustin Johnson finished the week in a tie for 10th place at 5-under, 275.

Focus will now shine on the year’s second major, the U.S. Open. Play begins Thursday at Marion Golf Club in Ardmore, Penn.

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Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship

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GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.

From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.

Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.

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See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.

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Photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson

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GolfWRX is on site this week in McKinney, Texas, at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson (FKA the AT&T Byron Nelson).

Last year at TPC Craig Ranch, Jason Day ended a five-year winless streak. J-Day is in the field again, as are Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, and Will Zalatoris.

We have our usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums for your perusal. As always, we’ll continue to add links to additional albums as they make their way to us from the Lone Star State.

Check out links to all our photos below.

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Photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans

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GolfWRX is live on site this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for the PGA Tour’s one-and-only two-man team event.

As usual, general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums — including some pretty spicy custom putters and headcovers — await your viewing.

Be sure to check back for more photos from the Big Easy, as we’ll continue to update this page with additional galleries throughout the week.

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See what GolfWRXers are saying about our photos from the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in the forums.

 

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