FedExCup Playoffs: Tommy Fleetwood leads Justin Rose by one shot heading into final round of St. Jude Championship

Tommy Fleetwood holds a one-shot lead over fellow Englishman Justin Rose ahead of the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis as he eyes his first PGA Tour title.

Fleetwood carded a one-under 69 on Saturday in a round that included a double-bogey on the par-five third, to move to 14 under for the tournament.

On that par-five third hole Fleetwood’s second shot came up short and into the water. He took his penalty drop, and then hit a wedge over the green into a bunker. Fleetwood said he noticed his golf ball move ever so slightly on his swing with the wedge.

Rules officials studied the video and decided that if it moved – they could not determine if it did because it was so slight – Fleetwood did not cause it and no penalty was issued. He made double-bogey, and Rose ran off three straight birdies to take the lead.

“The third was just such a kerfuffle and such a mess,” Fleetwood said. “It was not that bad of a second shot, but it’s obviously a terrible shot if it’s in the water. From there, drop, sort of felt like the ball had moved when I hit it, thinned it over the back, just made a double for nothing really.”

After the double-bogey, Fleetwood added five birdies and two bogeys, regaining the lead.

Behind the top two, world No 1 Scottie Scheffler is lurking in third on 12 under heading into Sunday after carding a brilliant 65 to shoot up the leaderboard just ahead of US Open champion JJ Spaun.

Fleetwood, who registered a seven-under 63 on day one when he birdied his last four holes, made three successive gains from the second in round two as he enjoyed another big closing stretch with four straight back-nine birdies.

His round three was a more up-and-down affair, but a clutch birdie on the 16th helped him regain control once again as he hunts an elusive win on the PGA Tour.

Fleetwood has suffered near misses on the PGA Tour of late, including the Travelers Championship where he agonisingly lost out to Keegan Bradley in a stunning final hole, but is remaining optimistic that his best golf can get him over the line.

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Highlights from the final round of the Travelers Championship as Fleetwood narrowly missed out on a maiden PGA Tour title at the hands of Keegan Bradley

“I played well last time. I came very close. I led the tournament for such a long time and it didn’t happen, and I said then, there’s an element to me, sort of it’s taken me a long time to win out here, and I still haven’t done it, but the best possible scenario at that Travelers straight away was can I put myself in that position again sooner rather than later,” Fleetwood said.

“It’s just another opportunity for me to go out and try and have the best round of golf I can, enjoy being in that position.

“The more I put myself there, the more chance there is of it happening, and just go out and keep learning from every experience.

“But tomorrow might be my day, it might not, but being there is the most important thing, and I’ll continue to try and do that.”

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Rose remains second at 13 under after a round that included six birdies and three bogeys. He was out early in the day to complete his second round after bad weather had stopped play early on Friday.

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What are the FedExCup Playoffs?

The Playoffs were launched in 2007 and have received multiple tweaks to the qualification and format since, with this year’s edition having three tournaments that all offer limited field sizes.

Only the top 70 in the season-long standings qualify for the FedEx St. Jude Championship, with the top 50 after that progressing to the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland from August 14-17.

Both of those events offer 2,000 FedExCup points to the winner – four times the amount awarded for a regular PGA Tour event, with both also not having a 36-hole cut.

The top 30 in the standings after those tournaments qualify for the Tour Championship, taking place from August 21-24 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, with all three events exclusively live on Sky Sports.

Watch round four of the opening FedExCup Playoffs event from 6pm, Sunday, live on Sky Sports Golf.

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