Justin Rose Wins 2025 FedEx St. Jude Championship
Memphis, TN – Justin Rose (-16) won the 2025 FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first leg of the 2025 FedEx Cup Playoffs. Rose beat JJ Spaun in a playoff on the third playoff hole. It caps a strong year for the veteran Englishman, whose longevity and ability to win an event against this strong of a field at this stage in his career is incredibly impressive. The disappointment of losing out to McIlroy at the Masters will undoubtedly linger but this will serve as a handsome consolation.
After both players had chances for birdie on the 72nd hole that would have won the tournament, they had to play 18 three more times to find a winner. The first playoff hole saw both players see birdie putts lip out, the second saw them both cash impressive putts for birdie. Both players were in tight on the third but only Rose could find the bottom of the cup.
Finishing behind Rose and Spaun in T3 was the “inevitable” Scottie Scheffler, who even without his caddie Ted Scott on the final day and arguably without his A game, managed to finish just one stroke back. Also finishing T3 was the unfortunate and sympathetic figure of Tommy Fleetwood. The Englishman retains his title of best player not to have won on the PGA Tour after heading into the final round with a one shot lead over rose and faltering again down the stretch.
Last week’s winner Cameron Young finished solo fifth, four behind at -11 after finishing with an impressive 64. Akshay Bhatia, Rickie Fowler, and Andrew Novak finished one behind him at -10.
After the top 70 started the week, only the top 50 will move on to next week. Players who moved in/out of the top 50 included Chris Kirk, who had a great week and vaulted himself up 10 spots but just fell short, landing at 51; Rickie Fowler, who made a huge leap to sneak inside the line at number 48; and Jordan Spieth, who needed a strong finish and came up short at number 54. He’ll be hoping captain Keegan Bradley values his experience over his results as Ryder Cup team selection looms.
Unfortunately for the Tour, one of the more talked-about stories of the week was regarding who wasn’t there, namely Rory McIlroy. McIlroy decided to skip the first leg of the playoffs due to the fact that it wouldn’t affect his ability to make it into the next week or indeed to win the big prize at East Lake in Atlanta in two weeks time. It’s unfathomable in other sports that one of the sport’s top players would voluntarily sit out and it’s clear that the Tour needs to figure out its playoffs ASAP.
Next week, the Playoffs continue at the BMW Championship which is being held at Caves Valley GC in Maryland. The top five in the FedEx Cup standings are Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Sepp Straka, Russell Henley, and Justin Thomas.
Justin Rose What’s In The Bag
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond 9° (Mitsubishi Diamana WB 63 TX)
Mini Driver: TaylorMade R7 Quad 13° (Mitsubishi Diamana WB)
5 Wood: TaylorMade M6 17° (Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 80 TX)
Irons: Titleist 620 CB 4-6, Miura MC-502 7-P (KBS C-Taper 125 S+)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 52°-08F, 56°-08M, Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks 60°-K (True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Onyx S400)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom T-5 Tour Prototype
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