Harris English wins FedEx St. Jude Classic

Harris English of the USA fired a final round of 69 to win the FedEx St. Jude Classic by two shots from countrymen Phil Mickelson and Scott Stallings.

Harris English wins FedEx St. Jude Classic (Getty Images)

Harris English of the USA fired a final round of 69 to win the FedEx St. Jude Classic by two shots from countrymen Phil Mickelson and Scott Stallings.

The FootJoy player birdied the 16th to tie Scott Stallings for the lead before Stallings made a bogey on the 18th. That saw English atop the leaderboard on his own and another birdie at the 17th solidified his position. The 23-year-old made a par on the final hole to take his first PGA Tour title.

"It's quite an unbelievable feeling," he said. "I had probably 10 High School friends out there rooting for me and I was just really relaxed out there today."

Phil Mickelson closed with a 67 and was looking to the positives ahead of next week's US Open.

"I'm really encouraged with the way I hit my irons," Mickelson said. "Got to get the 3-wood in play a little bit more, although next week at Merion distance won't be as critical as TPC Southwind. I'll be able to hit higher and softer shots."

Scott Stallings ended with a 68 but it was a case of what might have been for the American who was 12-under-par at the turn. He made a double at the 15th then a bogey at the final hole.

"You have to learn from the experiences that you have like this today and hopefully I'll get a little bit better break next time," he said. "But Harris has played great coming down the stretch."

FedEx St. Jude Classic TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tennessee Jun 6-9, purse $5,700,000 par 70

1   Harris English (USA)   66   64   69   69   268   $1,026,000 T2   Phil Mickelson (USA)   71   67   65   67   270   $501,600 T2   Scott Stallings (USA)   67   68   67   68   270   $501,600 4   Ryan Palmer (USA)   72   67   65   67   271   $273,600 5   Patrick Reed (USA)   69   69   64   70   272   $228,000 6   John Rollins (USA)   67   71   67   68   273   $205,200 T7   Justin Hicks (USA)   67   69   69   69   274   $177,650 T7   Rory Sabbatini (RSA)   69   69   68   68   274   $177,650 T7   Shawn Stefani (USA)   67   65   66   76   274   $177,650

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage Where next? European Tour - Luiten wins Lyoness Open

Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly. 

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?