What a option to get your first win.

Will Zalatoris pressured, then survived a wild three-hole playoff on Sunday on the St. Jude Championship to safe his first win on the PGA Tour and the lead within the FedEx Cup Championship. The victory within the first of three championship playoff occasions provides him the within monitor to the playoff’s $18 million first-place prize.

Zalatoris, 25, took the clubhouse lead at TPC Southwind in Memphis on 18 on Sunday with a 10-foot par putt to safe a 72-hole rating of 15-under.

Sepp Straka adopted and confronted an opportunity to safe a win in regulation with a 20-foot birdie putt on 18. However his effort missed simply excessive, and his profitable par putt pressured the sudden-death playoff with Zalatoris.

The 2 remained tied after parring 18 on the primary playoff gap. They replayed 18 for the second playoff gap, with each gamers lacking the golf green off the tee. Zalatoris hit his second shot off of pine needles close to a boundary line and onto the golf green. He bought up and down from there with a 13-foot, 8-inch putt to save lots of par.

Straka, in the meantime, took a drop and a one-stroke penalty after his drive landed close to a water hazard that will have pressured him to face within the water for his shot. Like Zalatoris, he saved par to power the third and remaining playoff gap at par-3 11th. That is when the fireworks actually began.

Zalatoris’ method shot to the waterside inexperienced got here up brief and proper. However he averted catastrophe by probably the most dramatic of margins as his ball bounced softly off a waterside wall then wedged in between the wall and the greenside tough — as a substitute of again into the water.

Straka wasn’t as lucky. His method was likewise brief and proper. However his bounced again into the water.

Straka sailed the inexperienced right into a bunker out of the drop zone, making what would have been a tough choice for Zalatoris significantly simpler. As a substitute of hitting out of this untenable lie, Zalatoris opted to take a penalty and shoot from the identical drop zone as Straka.

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In contrast to Straka, he discovered the inexperienced along with his shot from the drop zone and proceeded to make his bogey putt to safe his first Tour victory.

With the win, he moved up 11 locations into first place within the FedEx Cup standings with two playoff occasions remaining. He did so after capturing a 1-over 71 on Thursday that left him 9 strokes behind the chief and susceptible to lacking the reduce. However he adopted up with a 63 on Friday to make the weekend earlier than capturing 65 on Saturday and 66 on Sunday to power the playoff.

The highest 70 remaining gamers advance to subsequent week’s BMW Championship at Delaware’s Wilmington Nation Membership. The highest 30 from there advance to the Tour Championship at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Membership, the place the winner will take dwelling the first-place $18 million prize.