Justin Rose birdied the final hole on Saturday, meaning that he will now play alongside Tommy Fleetwood in the final group on day four of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, rather than Scottie Scheffler.
Had Rose parred the 18th hole, Scheffler would have accompanied Fleetwood in the last group on Sunday at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
The two Englishmen are very close friends, and spent last week on vacation together in Portugal.
After the third round, Rose suggested that Fleetwood will be happy that he’s playing with him rather than Scheffler on Sunday at TPC Southwind.
It should be a really exciting final day of golf in Memphis, with the top three players all in fine form.
However, would Fleetwood have actually been better off playing alongside the world number one on Sunday? Rich Beem has offered his take on the situation.
Tommy Fleetwood avoids Scottie Scheffler grouping at the FedEx St. Jude
Fleetwood and Rose will tee it up alongside one another again for the second day in a row.
And over in the UK, Sky Sports golf analyst Simon Holmes suggested that that is very good news for Fleetwood.
Before Rose birdied the last hole of the day to make it into the final group, Holmes asked the question regarding which playing partner Fleetwood would prefer on Sunday.
He said: “Would Fleetwood prefer to have Rose for company on the last day tomorrow, or Scheffler?
“I think Scheffler has got serious intimidation factor, he gives you nothing and beats you down. You know when he’s standing there, he’s the most competitive golfer on the planet, he’s got serious killer instinct. I think that makes it a job far harder for Tommy Fleetwood.“
However, Beem completely disagreed with Holmes’ assessment.
Beem said: “I think he would love to play with Scheffler because when you play with the best in the world it heightens everything and I think it makes your best comes out I absolutely think it would help Tommy if he plays with Scottie tomorrow.”
It’s a good point from Beem. However, I do feel like having Rose for company in Memphis on Sunday will put Fleetwood at ease.
Scheffler definitely has that intimidation factor and if he starts quickly in his fourth round, Fleetwood may well have his work cut out.
Tommy Fleetwood’s ‘shock’ will serve him well in the FedEx St. Jude final round
Fleetwood should be well-prepared for anything that comes his way on Sunday at TPC Southwind.
Holmes suggested that the shock he received on the third hole on Saturday will serve him well in the final round.
He said: “I think that could really do him a great deal of good for tomorrow.
“You know, he’s had his little shock and he has recovered, and he’ll have a shock tomorrow and he’ll have to recover from that.“
Fleetwood will need to play some very good golf to hold off Scheffler and Rose during the final round of the FedEx St Jude Championship on Sunday.
And if he keeps doing what he has been doing during the first three rounds at TPC Southwind, he’ll be just fine.
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