Golfer Justin Thomas wins WGC event, ascends to No. 1 in world rankings
Justin Thomas won the FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis on Sunday to take the No. 1 spot in the world for the first time since June 2018. He supplants Jon Rahm atop the rankings.
Thomas dueled defending champion Brooks Koepka down the final holes, sealing the World Golf Championship victory on the par-5 16th. Thomas took the lead for good with his second straight birdie, while Koepka bogeyed the hole.
Thomas shot a 5-under-par 65 to finish with a three-stroke victory at 13-under 267 and take the $1.82 million winner’s check for his 13th PGA Tour title. At 27, he’s the third-youngest player since 1960 to reach 13 PGA Tour wins, trailing Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.
Koepka finished with a 69 and tied for second with Phil Mickelson (67), Daniel Berger (65) and Tom Lewis (66).
PGA Tour: Richy Werenski holed a flop shot from the 16th fairway for a five-point eagle and birdied the last for a one-point victory over Troy Merritt in the Barracuda Championship in Truckee.
Werenski won for the first time on the PGA Tour, scoring 13 points in the final round in the tour’s lone modified Stableford scoring event.
LPGA Tour: Danielle Kang closed with a 2-under 70 at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, to win the LPGA Drive On Championship in the first LPGA Tour event in more than five months.
Kang, the No. 4 player in the women’s world ranking, won for the fourth time in her career, with a 7-under 209 total, one stroke better than Celine Boutier of France.
European Tour: Sam Horsfield won the Hero Open for his first European Tour title, holding off Thomas Detry by a stroke in Birmingham, England. Horsfield closed with a 4-under 68 for an 18-under 270 total.
PGA Tour Champions: Jim Furyk closed with a 4-under 68 to win the...