Gomez Secures First PGA Tour Title; Lefty Ready for Chambers Bay


Fabian Gomez pulled off his maiden victory on the PGA Tour by closing with a 4-nder 66 and winning the FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind in Memphis by four strokes.

Gomez, a 36-year-old from Argentina, posted five birdies and a bogey to end up at 13-under 267, four clear of fellow 54-hole leader Greg Owen of England, who shot a 70.

Gomez, a one-time winner on the Buy.com Tour, said later that he felt his success this week owed to a consistent mental approach. "Tried to keep playing the same way I played the last three days. And I tried to keep my mind blank and enjoy the round."

The 41-year-old Owen, who played with Gomez in the final group, was impressed by his opponent's play. "He hit every fairway," Owen said. "He played great. He deserved to win. I played great the first eight holes and then hit some rocky shots. Guys are so good, you can't play average. I've got some work to do."

In addition to earning $1.08 million and 500 FedEx Cup points, the win also gave Gomez and cherished two-year exemption on the PGA Tour. "Winning a tournament is a big difference," Gomez added. "You have a two-year exemption."

Phil Mickelson finally got untracked, posting a 5-under 65 to rise into a share of third at 272 with South Korea's Seung-Yul Noh (65), Aussie Matt Jones (68) and fellow Americans Michael Thompson (66) and Brooks Koepka (70).

Mickelson was pleased with his round, especially since he'll be heading to Chambers Bay this week in search of an elusive U.S. Open title, which would give Lefty a career Grand Slam.

"This was a good day," Mickelson said. "I played really well today, and looking back there were there were three, four, five shots I left out there. I really hit a lot of good shots. I made a lot of birdies. Made some good putts. More importantly I was able to control the miss for the most part on where I wanted it to go. I hit a lot of good iron shots the way I wanted to and ended up making some good birdies."

As for the all-fescue links course in Washington State that's a huge difference from other U.S. Open venues, Mickelson said he's ready for the challenge. "I really like the golf course. I think what (USGA executive director) Mike Davis said a few weeks ago is really true in that if you're going to be ready for this tournament, it takes a lot more time to learn the golf course than just a couple of days, and if you're having to use Monday through Wednesday to do that, you're not putting that effort into your own game.

"So I'm pleased that I've developed kind a game plan for each hole and how I'm going to get to certain pins, and I'm going to go back home tonight and spend the day practicing in San Diego working on a lot of shots. I'll get up there tomorrow night and put it to work on the practice rounds Tuesday and Wednesday.

"I really like the golf course," Mickelson added of the Robert Trent Jones-designed Chambers Bay, "and I think that it's a special course in that there's a lot of different ways to play shots to a lot of different pins, and if you play the highest percentage shot, it's not a hard golf course. But if you don't know what that shot is, you play the wrong one, there's a lot of penalty."

Tying for eighth at 273 were Boo Weekley (65), Billy Horschel (65), Russell Knox (66) and Chad Campbell (68).

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