MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Mostly from the stifling heat, maybe from the pressure, Lucas Glover needed to keep his hands from sweating and he learned a trick long ago from not wearing a glove.
On the 17th tee Sunday, tied for the lead with Patrick Cantlay, he dunked his hands in the ice water of a cooler for as long as he could stand it and then quickly dried them.
“It literally stops them from sweating for a little while,” Glover said.
And it did nothing to cool him off.
Glover won the FedEx St. Jude Championship, his second title in two weeks, this time by making three big putts — one of them for bogey — on the back nine, closing with a 1-under 69 and then beating Cantlay in a playoff with what ultimately was the most important shot.
His tee shot on the 18th hole in the playoff found dry land. Cantlay’s did not.
Glover won with a par to extend a most amazing run. Just 10 days ago, he started the PGA Tour’s postseason at No. 112 in the FedEx Cup — No. 119 in the world ranking — and was looking at an early end to the season.
He won the Wyndham Championship to get into the FedEx Cup playoffs. He won at the TPC Southwind and now already has locked up a spot in the Tour Championship. He is No. 30 in the world. He has earned just short of $5 million in two weeks.
Is the Ryder Cup on the horizon? Glover would have to win the BMW Championship next week to make the team. If not, he felt worthy of a pick.
“Playing pretty good golf, and I think I’d be pretty good in the team room and be a good partner,” he said. “So yeah, absolutely I would.”
Not even Glover could have imagined this less than three months ago, when he thought the yips would stay with him forever, prompting a change to a long putter that must feel like a magic wand these days.
“If you would have told me this three months ago, I’d tell you you’re crazy,” he said “But at the same time, if you asked me legitimately did I think I was capable, I’d say yes, even then. It’s just one of those sad ways athletes are wired.
We always believe in ourselves no matter how bad it is.”
Belief was at its peak on the back nine. Glover made a 20-foot par putt on the 13th, a 30-foot bogey putt on the par-3 14th after a tee shot into the water, and a 12-foot par putt on the 17th to stay tied with Cantlay, who had finished his superb round of 64 and was watching on TV.
The playoff effectively ended with one shot. Cantlay hit 3-wood that was about a foot from being perfect. Instead, it hopped down the bank and into the water. Glover found the fairway with his 3-wood and two-putted for par. Cantlay took a penalty drop and his 20-foot par putt just slid by the right edge.
“Just hooked the ball a little too much off the tee,” Cantlay said. “Bad shot, obviously, and paid the price.”
Glover becomes only the third player in his 40s to win back-to-back weeks on the PGA Tour over the last 25 years, joining Kenny Perry (2003) and Vijay Singh, who did it three times, most recently in the FedEx Cup playoffs in 2008.
