Rose keeps faith to beat Spaun in St Jude play-off

Justin Rose reeled off four straight back-nine birdies to force a play-off, then birdied the third hole of sudden death to beat J.J. Spaun for the St Jude Championship on Aug 10 as Tommy Fleetwood endured more PGA Tour agony.

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WASHINGTON - Justin Rose reeled off four straight back-nine birdies to force a play-off, then birdied the third hole of sudden death to beat J.J. Spaun for the St Jude Championship on Aug 10 as Tommy Fleetwood endured more PGA Tour agony.

Englishman Rose, the 2013 US Open champion, had six birdies over his last eight holes including the play-off, climbing up the congested leaderboard with birdies from the 14th to 17th holes in regulation.

His round of three-under 67 pulled him level with reigning US Open champion Spaun on 16-under 264 at TPC Southwind where overnight leader Fleetwood had a two-shot lead with three holes remaining but faltered with a bogey at 17th for a 69 that left him in joint third with Scottie Scheffler (67) on 265.

Spaun carded a 65 in the final round, posting back-to-back birdies at the 16th and 17th — where he rolled in a 20-foot putt — to put himself in the play-off.

"That was an amazing last 90 minutes, really," said Rose, the 45-year-old who finished runner-up to Rory McIlroy in a play-off at the Masters in April. "Played unbelievable golf coming down the stretch."