Lee Westwood claimed the St. Jude Classic presented by Smith & Nephew, coming through a playoff against Robert Garrigus and Robert Karlsson after Garrigus had blown a three-shot lead on the 72nd hole.
It was Westwood's first win on the PGA Tour since the 1998 Zurich Classic of New Orleans and it solidifies his position at number three on the Official World Golf Ranking.
"You try to do the right thing all the time," Westwood said. "It doesn't always work for you. I've been in contention a lot, especially this year, and I suppose I got a break today with other people's misfortune but made the most of it and took a chance."
Garrigus had little time to forget the disaster he'd suffered on the 18th as the trio headed straight back to the same tee for the first playoff hole. Unsurprisingly, this time Garrigus stayed away from the lake but his drive ended stymied behind a tree and he was forced to pitch out. His bogey wasn't good enough to continue after the European duo made pars.
"I know I played better than they all did in the field. It's all right," Garrigus said. "I'm going to go on from this week, and we'll be good.
"I didn't hit a good putt," he said.
The win comes as the perfect preparation for next week's US Open and the Englishman will vie to become the eighth player to win a PGA Tour event then win the US Open the following week.
