BERGER RETAINS ST JUDE CLASSIC TITLE

Daniel Berger carded a final round 66 to win the FedEx St Jude Classic by one stroke from Charl Schwartzel and Meen Whee Kim by one shot.

The 24 year old from Florida followed up his win at the same event last year – his only victories on the PGA Tour to date.

Berger played the final 18 holes without a bogey, despite hitting less than half of the fairways and only two-thirds of the greens in regulation. Aside from a birdie on the par-five third, Berger recorded all of his birdies on par fours. He made the turn in 33, then added birdies on 13 and 15 to take the lead.

Schwartzel matched Berger’s closing 66, but after opening up with rounds of 65 and 66, let his chance of winning slip with a third round 74. He battled back on Sunday, firing three birdies over the first three holes, but dropped a shot at the sixth and was never able to get on level terms. South Korea’s Whee Kim shot a closing 67, with his only bogey coming at the 10th to secure his best finish on the PGA Tour.

Amateur Braden Thornberry, Billy Horschel and Rafa Cabrera Bello were among five players two shots back in tied fourth. Cabrera Bello, Stewart Cink and Ben Crane started the final round with a one-shot lead on a crowded leaderboard. The Spaniard stayed in contention for most of the day, finishing with a 71, but Cink and Crane both shot 73s to finish tied 10th.

Phil Mickelson got the crowds going when he flew to the top of the leaderboard early on Sunday with a front nine 32, but a disastrous 12th hole, which saw the lefthander hit his tee shot out of bounds and then drop his fourth-shot approach into the water, ended all chances of him pulling off his first win since the 2013 Open Championship. He ended up finishing ninth.

Graeme McDowell fared best of the UK contingent, finishing tied 27th, with Ian Poulter a shot back in tied 31st. Former top-ranked English amateur Sam Horsfield, who turned professional last month, missed the cut after shooting rounds of 72 and 71.