2025 St. Jude Championship leaderboard: Tommy Fleetwood holds as Scottie Scheffler, Justin Rose pull closer

Fleetwood is in line to win his first PGA Tour event, but the world No. 1 golfer is right on his tail

Just 18 holes stand between Tommy Fleetwood and his first career PGA Tour victory. The story entering Saturday's third round at the 2025 FedEx St. Jude Championship was whether Fleetwood could finally handle the nerves of leading a tournament on the weekend, and while Moving Day was not particularly smooth for the Englishman, he remains atop the leaderboard after 54 holes in Memphis, Tennessee. 

Fleetwood's weekend opened with a rocky start as he made a double bogey 7 on the par-5 3rd hole, immediately shrinking his lead from four shots to one over Justin Rose. His countryman eventually take a two-shot lead over Fleetwood as Rose was red-hot early, and it immediately felt as if history would be repeating itself. However, Fleetwood settled in from there, bouncing back to close out his front nine in strong fashion and claw his way back into the lead.

Finishing his third round with a 69, Fleetwood sits 14 under for the tournament, one stroke ahead of Rose and two in front of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. It is Fleetwood's third career 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour, one he aims to turn into a victory unlike his prior opportunities, but ever the optimist, he's excited for the opportunity. 

"I would way rather be there and fail than not be there at all," Fleetwood said of his lead entering Sunday. "So, either way, it's a good thing. And yeah, it hurts when it doesn't happen for you ... and people talk about it more and more. That goes on, which it's not my favorite time walking off the 18th at that point.

"I practice so hard at my game, and I work so hard and enjoy being out here for days like this. And all the times you're 40th place going into Sunday, 30th, 20th, you might have a great day and feel good, but it's just not the same as being in contention. I just look forward to the opportunities, giving myself a chance and chasing my dreams. Whether they happen or not tomorrow or the week after, that's another story. But I'm looking forward to it nonetheless."

Fleetwood's lead should be larger. He walked to the 18th tee with a three-shot lead over Rose only to make bogey from the right rough as Rose managed a spectacular birdie to narrow the gap substantially entering Sunday's final round. With multiple dropped shots to end otherwise strong rounds this week, Fleetwood will undoubtedly look back on those miscues and attempt to push them out of his head if he's in a similar situation Sunday.

While Fleetwood certainly would have preferred a larger cushion, Rose's birdie on the last might have helped the 34-year-old out a touch as he'll once again be paired with his fellow Englishman on Sunday rather than having to stare down Scheffler during the closing stretch of a big-money tournament. 

Scheffler, who was six back of Fleetwood entering Moving Day, tied the low round of Saturday with a 65 to surge into third place at 12 under, trimming two-thirds of his deficit in the process. He rolled in a birdie on the last to finish the day with an exclamation point, standing in stark contrast to Fleetwood once again limping into the clubhouse. 

Frustrated all week with the Bermuda rough at TPC Southwind, Scheffler has regularly griped about bad lies and the way the ball settles down. Even as he's run a little hot in Memphis, he's plotted his way along to another week in contention. Scheffler is once again avoiding mistakes -- six birdies compared to one bogey in the third round -- and even when he's dropped a shot this tournament, he quickly bounces back to erase the miscue.

Scheffler will be able to apply serious pressure to the final pairing from the penultimate group, as Fleetwood and Rose be well aware of his presence given the massive crowds around Scheffler will send roars rolling back to the last duo in the field. J.J. Spaun joins Scheffler meaning winners of three 2025 majors will be breathing down the necks of Fleetwood and Rose down the stretch.

The leader

1. Tommy Fleetwood (-14): Fleetwood is unquestionably the most accomplished player on the PGA Tour that has not won a tournament. His 42 top 10 finishes are the most of any player without a win on the PGA Tour since 1983, and with Cameron Young winning last week, his six runner-up finishes without a win are the most of any player on Tour currently. He's an immensely talented player, but the scar tissue is real. This was apparent at the Travelers Championship as he took a one-shot lead to the 18th hole but lost with a bogey as Keegan Bradley made birdie next to him. Coupled with his struggles on No. 18 this week at TPC Southwind, Fleetwood will have a mountain of doubt to overcome if he arrives on that tee with a one-shot lead Sunday. This year has seen plenty of obstacles overcome already; after all, Rory McIlroy finally conquered his demons at Augusta National this year to win the Masters and career grand slam, so a Fleetwood win -- staring down Scheffler in the process -- might be a fitting way for the 2025 FedEx Cup Playoffs to begin. 

Contenders

2. Justin Rose (-13)
3. Scottie Scheffler (-12)
T4. J.J. Spaun, Andrew Novak (-11)
T6. Ben Griffin, Rickie Fowler, Chris Kirk, Akshay Bhatia (-9)

Rose will hope he's not transformed into a good luck charm for those trying to accomplish career-defining feats. He lost to McIlroy in the playoff at the Masters and will be trying to prevent Fleetwood from capturing his first win this week. Rose is hoping to create a different story Sunday as would become be the oldest winner on the PGA Tour this season (45) capturing his 12th career win and first since 2023.

Scheffler of course, stands as the most dangerous man on any leaderboard, any week. He's going to make Fleetwood earn that first victory. Scheffler has improved one shot in each round, going 67-66-65 to get into third place alone, and he looks extremely comfortable on the new greens at TPC Southwind. Scheffler is third in strokes gained putting, as he continues his transformation into being not just a good but elite putter, which makes him the most terrifying threat the game has seen since prime Tiger Woods. 

Spaun will have to deal with the Scheffler crowds, but he's played a few times with Scottie since his U.S. Open triumph and certainly won't be intimidated by the moment. Novak, meanwhile, gets to play with his buddy Ben Griffin in a comfortable pairing that will fly under the radar. That could bode well for the two men that won the Zurich Classic together earlier this year. 

FedEx Cup top 50 bubble watch

The secondary storyline Sunday will be the battle for the top 50 spots in the FedEx Cup standings. That's where players need to be to make it to next week's BMW Championship, and it sets up the 2026 schedule by guaranteeing those 50 players spots in all eight signature event fields. 

Heading into Sunday, there are five players projected to move into the top 50 that started the week outside the number. 

• Bud Cauley (53rd to 43rd) is T10 at -7
• Kurt Kitayama (52nd to 47th) is T16 at -6
• Chris Kirk (61st to 48th) is T6 at -9
• Rickie Fowler (64th to 49th) is T6 at -9
• Jhonattan Vegas (56th to 50th) is T16 at -6

Those players need to hold onto or improve their positions to lock themselves into the second round of the playoffs. They also need the five players who have dropped out of the top 50 not to make big runs up the leaderboards themselves. 

• Aldrich Potgieter (43rd to 52nd) is T67 at +6
• Wyndham Clark (49th to 53rd) is T30 at -3
• Jordan Spieth (48th to 54th) is T41 at -1
• Jake Knapp (47th to 56th) is T59 at +2
• Min Woo Lee (50th to 57th) is 69th at +10

Lee's chances are done as he's well back in last place, but the rest could theoretically claw their way back in with low rounds on Sunday. J.T. Poston is 51st after starting the week 51st, sitting at 4 under for the tournament (T26) and could also shake things up with a low round. They could use help from that group above them falling out of the top 10, but the projections shifting and changing with every birdie and bogey on Sunday will be fascinating to watch. 

2025 FedEx St. Jude Championship updated odds, picks

Odds via BetMGM

• Tommy Fleetwood (3/2)
• Scottie Scheffler (17/10)
• Justin Rose (9/2)
• J.J. Spaun (14-1)
• Andrew Novak (18-1)

It's mildly surprising that Scheffler is not the favorite, but the oddsmakers are showing Fleetwood some respect as he tries to close out this win. It's hard not to believe Scheffler is going to win this with another 65, but Novak is a live dog at 18-1 because that pairing with Griffin is going to be quite comfortable, and they both will be playing free golf. They're pretty much locked into not only next week but the Tour Championship as well, and they could help push each other to a notably low round. It's not super likely, but at 18-1, that's about the last long-value play available that has real potential on this leaderboard. 

[Aug 9, 2025 at 5:38 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Scottie Scheffler is the clubhouse leader and just three shots off Tommy Fleetwood's lead of 15 under after a Saturday 65 to once again position himself in contention going into the final round of a PGA Tour event. Scheffler made six birdies and one bogey in his round, closing with a birdie on the 18th to ensure his name would be prominent on the leaderboard for Fleetwood and Justin Rose to see as they try to finish out their third round. 

[Aug 9, 2025 at 4:54 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

A big miss off the tee on the par-3 14th led to a bogey for Justin Rose, as he's fallen back to earth after a hot start and is now 12 under, two behind Tommy Fleetwood who got up-and-down for par from just left of the green. Behind those two, it's now the only two major winners from this year in the field that are tied for third, as J.J. Spaun and Scottie Scheffler have it to 11 under. Scheffler has been steadily walking down the leaders all week and is as close as we've seen him to the lead, while Spaun shot a 65 to tie Xander Schauffele for the low round of the day and get in the clubhouse at -11. 

[Aug 9, 2025 at 4:14 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

The race for the top 50 to get into next week's BMW Championship continues to shift and change. The current projected standings around the bubble look like this: 

48th: Kurt Kitayama (-6)
49th: Wyndham Clark (-5)
50th: Rickie Fowler (-9)
51st: J.T. Poston (-4)
52nd: Jhonattan Vegas (-6)
53rd: Aldrich Potgieter (+5)
54th: Jordan Spieth (-1)

Spieth (48th), Potgieter (43rd), Jake Knapp (48th) and Min Woo Lee (50th) are the four players projected to go from inside the top 50 entering the week to outside the FedEx Cup cut line. Fowler (64th), Kitayama (52nd), Chris Kirk (61st) and Bud Cauley (53rd) are the four projected to move into the top 50 -- with Kirk and Cauley jumping well up the board as they're both T3 at -10 currently. 

The biggest sweats right now belong to Kitayama, Clark and Fowler, as they will have to maintain their position or improve it through Sunday to stay where they are. The guys outside the number needed right now will have to go for broke on Sunday, but that also could free them up to try and go really low to climb the leaderboard and find the points they need to make it to next week. 

Cauley has the most cushion of the guys that have moved up, as he will be solid provided he stays in the top 15, while Kirk needs a top 10 to be comfortable in his spot next week. 

[Aug 9, 2025 at 3:25 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

We once again have a tie on top after a two-shot swing in the final group. After jumping into the lead with a hot start, Justin Rose gave one back after coming up short in the water with his approach on the 9th, leading to a bogey to fall back to 13 under. Tommy Fleetwood, meanwhile, stuffed his approach inside 10 feet and rolled in the birdie putt to move back to 13 under where he started the day and make the turn with a share of the lead. 

Behind them, Bud Cauley has it to 11 under, while Scottie Scheffler bounced back (as he so often does) from a bogey on the 10th with a birdie on the 11th and is just three shots back. 

[Aug 9, 2025 at 2:55 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

While Rose and Fleetwood do battle in the final group, Scottie Scheffler is steadily climbing the leaderboard. He started the day six back but after making the turn in 32 he's just four off the pace and slowly walking down the leaders. Scheffler is in solo third and if he can get another shot or two closer to the lead, seeing his name that close behind will create some serious stress for the leaders heading into the final round. 

[Aug 9, 2025 at 2:51 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Rose and Fleetwood arrived at the 7th tied at the top at 13 under, but a two-shot swing on the long par 4 as pushed the 45-year-old into a two-shot lead. Rose stuffed another iron shot, as he's absolutely flushing the ball early on Saturday, and left a short birdie putt. Fleetwood, meanwhile, tried to flight an iron down and ran his approach over the green and into the rough to leave a short-sided chip that he couldn't get up-and-down. The bogey dropped him back to 12 under, while Rose is now -4 thru 7 on his round and up to 14 under. 

[Aug 9, 2025 at 2:19 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

The battle for the lead in the final pairing has become fascinating between Fleetwood and Rose after the big swing on No. 3. Rose briefly tied Fleetwood at the top with a birdie on the 5th to get to 12 under, but Fleetwood answered him with a birdie of his own to bounce back to 13 under for the championship and even on his round. 

The good news for Fleetwood is that he will not get a penalty for his ball moving on the 3rd hole, as it's not clear the ball even moved and rules officials determined he did not do anything that would've made it move if it did. He bounced back with a terrific par save on the 4th after a scratchy tee shot and seems to have settled his nerves a bit, striping the ball on the 5th to set up a short birdie look. 

[Aug 9, 2025 at 1:50 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Fleetwood's approach with a fairway wood on the par-5 came up short in the water and he then hit a wedge in the bunker long with his fourth after taking a drop, leading to a double bogey 7 that drops him back to -12. It was a mess of a hole from Fleetwood, and he also flagged a potential penalty on himself as he felt his ball moved as he took his club back on his fourth after taking the drop. 

In the same group, Justin Rose went long of the green in two, but was able to get up-and-down for his birdie and he's now just one back of Fleetwood after a wild three-shot swing. Fleetwood's double offers some hope to a bunch of players in the chase group, including Scottie Scheffler who has it to -8 early in his third round. 

[Aug 9, 2025 at 1:12 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

With three pars from the final group on the 1st, everyone is on the course for the third round. Fleetwood's lead is still three over Justin Rose, with Collin Morikawa, Akshay Bhatia and Chris Kirk, the hot player on the course, behind at 9 under. Kirk is -4 thru 4 thanks to a birdie-birdie-eagle start to his round, as he's jumped into contention (and well inside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings). 

[Aug 9, 2025 at 12:38 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

The battle for who gets into the BMW next week (and the signature events next season) will be the secondary story of the weekend to Tommy Fleetwood's quest for his first win. Jordan Spieth has dropped out of that 50th spot early on Thursday and has work to do. One of the players who has jumped Spieth Rickie Fowler, as he has moved to 7 under and T8, which is good enough to get him up to 51st in the projections. 

Fowler is -2 thru 3 early in his third round and has moved back inside the top 10, but he will need to climb a bit closer to the top 5 in order to crack the top 50 -- Aldrich Potgieter is currently 50th down in T60 after starting the week 43rd. Joining Fowler in a big leap is Chris Kirk, who is also 7 under and -2 thru 2 on his day, moving from 61st to 49th in the projections currently.

Projections will shift and change all weekend as players move up and down the leaderboard. Not only does it matter where they finish, but how many players are tied with them in that position because the more ties for a position, the more the points get split. 

[Aug 9, 2025 at 12:16 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

It's been an adventurous start to the third round for Jordan Spieth, who started the day as the man on the bubble at 50th in the FedEx Cup standings. However, he's backed up to 53rd in the projections after finding the water on the par-3 14th with a woeful miss off the tee -- the second time he's splashed down on a par 3 in his first five holes. On the 11th he saved bogey from the drop area, but he could not get up-and-down on the 14th and made double, dropping back to +1 on the week and T53 place. That has pushed him outside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup and he needs to settle down and find some birdies coming in to avoid dropping shots in his third round. 

[Aug 9, 2025 at 11:50 am ET · Robby Kalland]

Fairways are soft after last night's rain but with winds picking up on Saturday morning there are some challenging conditions at TPC Southwind. Fitzpatrick is the only player in the first hour of play of the third round to get it more than 1 under on the round, as he's -3 thru 4 and has moved himself up 16 spots on the leaderboard to T15 at 5 under. That's moved him solidly inside the top 40 in the FedEx Cup standings as he has his eyes on playing his way into the Tour Championship. 

[Aug 9, 2025 at 10:43 am ET · Robby Kalland]

The second round is finally complete and they've quickly turned it over to the third round at TPC Southwind. Emiliano Grillo, Matt Fitzpatrick and Taylor Pendrith are teeing off on No. 1, while Harris English, Max Greyserman and Aaron Rai are going off No. 10 at 10:40 a.m. ET to start the third round. Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and Collin Morikawa will tee off at 12:52 p.m. ET in the final group, as they look to get back on schedule with threesomes playing off split tees for the third round. 

[Aug 9, 2025 at 9:23 am ET · Robby Kalland]

Justin Rose had two holes left to play in his second round when storms caused a suspension of play on Friday night, and he returned Saturday morning and went birdie-par to post 66 and reach 10 under, trimming Tommy Fleetwood's 36-hole lead to three. He'll now be part of the final group when they tee off later this morning for the third round as the leader of the chase pack trying to prevent Fleetwood from capturing his first career win.