Winners and Losers from the 2015 FedEx St. Jude Classic
It was a first-timer's weekend at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
A pair of non-winners on the PGA Tour, Argentina's Fabian Gomez and England's Greg Owen, began Sunday's final round with a share of the lead and a chance to break through.
Gomez produced.
The 36-year-old sank a long birdie on the 18th green to complete a four-under-par 66 and clinch what turned out to be a four-shot win over Owen. He became the ninth player in the tournament's history to record his first PGA Tour victory and ended a five-year drought for international players in Memphis.
The four-plus rounds of competition provided a generous cadre of winners and losers, and we took a look at both sides of the ledger while compiling a final list.
Click through to take a look at what we came up with, and drop a viewpoint or two of your own in the comments section.
Winner: The Fabian Strategy
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"Remarkably steady" might not be the way that Rory McIlroy or Jordan Spieth wants to be described.
But for Argentina's Fabian Gomez, it was just fine, thanks.
The 36-year-old broke a career-long drought on the PGA Tour and earned the "steady" superlative from CBS broadcast host Bill Macatee after his four-shot win over Greg Owen made him the fifth player from his country to win a PGA Tour event. He shot rounds of 66-68-67-65 to end 13 under par.
The win also vaulted Gomez to 36th in this year's FedEx Cup standings and qualified him for the 2015 PGA Championship and the 2016 Masters.
"I'm so happy to win," Gomez told CBS' Peter Kostis after the final hole. "I see all the people that have the Argentine flag, and I know they're going to be really happy about it."
Loser: The English Patient
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It's probably a smidge unfair to hang a negative grade on a guy who entered the tournament as the world's 342nd-ranked player, but, given where his weekend began, U.K.-born journeyman Greg Owen didn't do himself any favors in Sunday's final round.
The 43-year-old opened with a 64 on Thursday and posted a 67 on Saturday, which, along with Friday's even-par 70, had him in a tie for the lead with Fabian Gomez with 18 holes to play.
It was a prime position, however, for which the veteran might not have been qualified.
The CBS broadcast crew made multiple comments about the Englishman's inability to perform with the lead, including Peter Kostis suggesting early in the round that "for Greg Owen, being the chaser is better than being chased. He's always had difficulty handling the pressure coming down the stretch, hopefully he'll get that conquered today."
He didn't.
Owen completed the front nine in one-under-par 34, but he found water off the 12th tee en route to a bogey five and sprayed to the right off the par-three 14th tee on the way to another bogey. He birdied No. 15 to stay within two shots of Gomez, but a short birdie miss on 16—coupled with Gomez's conversion of a similar birdie try—made it academic that a career-long PGA Tour drought would continue.
Winner: Hope and Charity
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It's not an unusual sight.
Each week that CBS televises a PGA Tour event, the corporate sponsor of the tournament gets some face time in the broadcast tower to discuss his or her company's suite of charitable endeavors.
But it felt different this week. Oh, sure, a representative from FedEx chatted up CBS' Bill Macatee for a few minutes, but the most tangible evidence of the impact made by the FedEx St. Jude Classic was the steady flow of flag-bearing kids alongside each green and the interactions they had with passing players.
Argentine champion Fabian Gomez started his ultimately successful Sunday round with a kiss for one of the kids, while Phil Mickelson, after finishing a leaderboard-climbing round of 65, autographed a golf glove, a golf ball and a caddy's vest while charming an obviously entranced little girl.
Additionally, FedEx Corp. donated $1 million to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the name of 2014 FedExCup champion Billy Horschel. FedEx Express joined St. Jude in dedicating a FedEx Cessna aircraft to 9-year-old Tyler West.
“We are proud to support the groundbreaking research being done at St. Jude, which impacts the local community and the 30,000 FedEx team members based in Memphis, as well as thousands of children and families throughout the world,” said Patrick Fitzgerald, senior vice president of marketing and communications, FedEx Services.
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Loser: Big-Name Hunters
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The U.S. Open is next week, so if viewers dialed up Golf Channel and NBC in search of the usual collection of big names for Sunday afternoon's FedEx St. Jude homestretch, they got an anonymous surprise.
The fourth round began with none of the world's top 20 within striking distance, and a shared lead in the hands of two men—England's Greg Owen (342) and Argentina's Fabian Gomez (288)—whose rankings put them far closer to Smylie Kaufman and Pavit Tangkamolprasert than Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.
In fact, only Brooks Koepka (23), Ryan Palmer (26) and Matt Jones (72) were both in the final seven pairings and among the world's top 100, while occupants of the other 11 slots in those groups ranged from player No. 148 (Camilo Villegas) to player No. 800 (Chris Smith).
Koepka and Jones wound up part of a five-way tie for third, while Palmer was tied for 22nd.
Of the other four top-30 players who entered the event, No. 7 Dustin Johnson withdrew after nine holes, No. 29 Jamie Donaldson missed the cut and No. 20 Billy Horschel and No. 19 Phil Mickelson each shot final-round 65s to finish high on the leaderboard (tied for eighth and tied for third, respectively), but never in real-time contention.
Winner: A Slamming Tune-Up
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He didn't leave the course with a trophy, but veteran left-hander Phil Mickelson played well enough over four days to create optimism that a larger prize might still be within reach.
Mickelson, who'll turn 45 on Tuesday, finished second at the FedEx St. Jude in 2013 and was tied for 11th last year. He opened this year's event with rounds of 68, 69 and 70 to enter Sunday six shots off the lead, then he fired a five-under 65 that gave him the clubhouse lead at eight under when his round ended.
He finished up in a five-way tie for third, five shots off the lead.
It's the latest in a string of quality 2015 efforts, coming after a tie for 17th at the Shell Houston Open and top-five finishes at both the Masters (tie for second) and the Wells Fargo Championship (tie for fourth).
"There are two kinds of players," said Peter Kostis on the CBS broadcast. "Players who like to practice their way into majors and players who like to play their way into majors. Phil likes to play. I think he's going to go into Chambers Bay (site of the U.S. Open) in a good direction with a good feeling."
The U.S. Open remains the only major he's not captured in a pro career that began in the early 1990s, though he finished second or tied for second in 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2013.
"I really like the (Chambers Bay) golf course," Mickelson told CBS' Rich Beem after Sunday's round. "I'm pleased that I've developed a game plan for each hole. I think that it's a special course in that there are a lot of different ways to play shots to different pins."
Loser: Indefensible
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Ben Crane's defense of his win at the 2014 FedEx St. Jude Classic officially lasted four days at this year's tournament, but it was realistically finished by Saturday night.
The 39-year-old shot 66 and 70 to begin his quest for a sixth PGA Tour victory—just two shots off the pace of eventual winner Fabian Gomez—but his four-over 74 in the third round made him an also-ran when it came time for a Sunday afternoon victory lap.
He shot 68 Sunday and eventually finished 11 shots off the pace in a tie for 37th.
Last year, Crane opened with a 63 and went wire-to-wire for what wound up as a one-shot victory over Troy Merritt. He had to play 30 holes on the final day after rain interrupted the third round.
It was his first win since the 2011 McGladrey Classic.
Winner: Beginner's Pluck
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It's been a pretty good month for Bryson DeChambeau.
The Southern Methodist University junior captured the NCAA men's title on June 1 in Florida, then he followed it up a week later by shooting 11 under at a sectional qualifier in Ohio to earn a berth in the U.S. Open.
Thursday's opening round in Memphis marked the 21-year-old's debut on the PGA Tour, and he prolonged his FedEx St. Jude stay by making the cut—becoming the first amateur to do so since 1998—and shooting 68-72 on the weekend to finish even par for the tournament.
Alongside his name, DeChambeau also stands out because of a unique swing and hand-altered clubs.
His irons are cut to the same length, he uses an over-sized grip and limits wrist action through impact for better accuracy. He also wears a Ben Hogan-style floppy cap, primarily in honor of another former SMU standout, Payne Stewart. Stewart died in a plane crash in 1999, four months after winning the U.S. Open.
Loser: The Favorite Son
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The father of Wayne Gretzky's grandson arrived at the TPC Southwind course as a would-be tournament favorite, based on his best-in-field No. 7 position in the Official World Golf Ranking.
But Dustin Johnson's stay in Memphis wound up far more bluesy than he'd have hoped.
The 2012 tournament champion bogeyed the first three holes he played in Thursday's first round, then limped to the turn with six consecutive pars before withdrawing from play after just nine holes.
He'd entered the event with some momentum after a tie for eighth at the AT&T Byron Nelson and a tie for 13th at the Memorial Tournament, but he claimed illness preempted his final U.S. Open tune-up chance.
"Thanks everyone for all your concern and support," Johnson posted on his Facebook page. "I hated to have to withdraw this morning, but thought it was the best thing to do under the circumstances.
"Hopefully, I’ve only got a little bug, but didn’t want to make it worse by playing in the extreme heat and humidity. Special thanks to all my fans in Memphis, my friends at FedEx and of course, St. Jude Children’s Hospital. I’m sorry to disappoint, but I’ll be back!"
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