FedEx St. Jude Classic 2015: Leaderboard Scores and Highlights from Sunday

With nearly every elite player taking a pass on the 2015 St. Jude Classic, the PGA Tour needed someone new to step up. No one could have ever imagined it'd be Fabian Gomez.

The 36-year-old journeyman earned his first career PGA championship Sunday, carding a four-under 66 to win the final U.S. Open tuneup by four strokes. Englishman Greg Owen, who entered the day tied with Gomez, finished second after carding an even-par 70.

"Even if I won many tournaments, winning here on the PGA Tour is something amazing, and I'm going to enjoy the moment with my family," Gomez said, per Teresa M. Walker of the Associated Press.

Gomez is a late bloomer overall, finally graduating from the Web.com Tour last year after years of languishing on secondary circuits. In 16 tournaments before this week, Gomez had one top-10 and had been cut five times, including three of his last five events.

None of that mattered Sunday. Gomez was cool and collected throughout, bogeying only one hole against five birdies, including a capper on the final hole. After struggling most of the week with his driving accuracy, he was sensational over the last 18, pulling away from a struggling Owen.

As noted by Walker, he is the fifth Argentine golfer to win on the PGA Tour.

"That list for me is an honor, and we share many, many weeks with Andres, Angel," Gomez said. "When they play on the tour the same week with me, we share some barbecue. We had one last night, and I know that they are going to be happy for this situation right now."

Owen, a 43-year-old Englishman who was also looking for his first PGA Tour win, instead settled for the strongest result of his career. He shot a four-under 64 Thursday and rode that a majority of the way. The even rounds, during which he shot just par, wound up being his undoing.

Five players, including Phil Mickelson, tied for third place at eight under. Mickelson and fellow third-place finisher Seung-yul Noh tied with three others for the day's best score at 65. Mickelson had eight birdies against three bogeys, overcoming a week of poor driving to have one of his best finishes of the season. After not posting a top-10 in his first seven tournaments of 2015, he now has three top-fives in his last five tournaments.

“Looking back there were still some shots I left out there," Mickelson said on CBS, per Alec Brzezinski of Sporting News. "I hit a lot of good shots and was able to control my miss, and it was nice to see that putts started to fall."

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

Mickelson will look to carry over that success to the U.S. Open, still the only major he's never won. Lefty has finished second at the event six times, most recently in 2013. Ironically, that was the last time Mickelson won overall on tour, as he extended his winless streak despite a strong tournament overall.

Brooks Koepka, who was the 36-hole leader, was among those who tied with Mickelson in third. Koepka, after going nine under in his first two rounds, was one over on the weekend. He had four birdies against two bogeys and a double during his even-par 70 on Sunday. A five on the par-three 14th undid an otherwise strong final stretch that saw him birdie three of his last six holes.

Australian Matt Jones was the only player other than Owen with a legitimate chance at winning the event. Jones was at nine under with five holes remaining but bogeyed the par-four 15th and parred his remaining holes to fall out of contention.

The PGA Tour moves on to Chambers Bay golf course next week for the 2015 U.S. Open. It is the first Open played in the state of Washington. Most of the tour, including every top-20 player except Mickelson, took the week off to prepare. (Note: Dustin Johnson, the world's seventh-ranked golfer, entered the event but withdrew after the front nine Thursday.)

Odds are, none of the results from this week will have any implication on what happens at Chambers Bay. But that's what these smaller tournaments are about: finding the secondary players on tour and giving them a chance. Credit Gomez for taking advantage.