Glover Goes Back-To-Back, Vu Wins Second Major of 2023 | Sunday Swing

Welcome back to another edition of the Sunday Swing presented by 2nd Swing Golf. This week the PGA Tour kicked off the FedEx Cup playoffs, with the top 70 ranked players hoping to advance into next week at the BMW Championship which only allows the top-50. The best ladies in the world were in England this week for the final major of their season -- the AIG Women’s Open. 

FedEx St. Jude - Tournament History 

The PGA Tour has always had an event in Memphis every season dating back to 1958, and it permanently moved to TPC Southwind in 1989. in 1986, FedEx took over as the sponsor, but it wasn’t until 2007 that the FedEx Cup playoffs existed. The event has also carried three other names including The Northern Trust, The Barclays, and the Buick Classic. Last year, Will Zalatoris broke through for his first ever victory on the PGA Tour. Unfortunately, Zalatoris won’t be at this years edition as he is still recovering from a surgery that’s kept him out for the majority of the 2023 season. Leading in, Jon Rahm is the man who sat atop the FedEx Cup leaderboard followed closely by Scottie Scheffler. With FedEx Cup points being quadrupled for the three playoff events, there is a lot of opportunity for the leaderboard to be shaken up as players jockey for positioning and hope to reach East Lake where the top-30 play for the Tour’s ultimate prize- $18 million. Players who qualify for the Tour Championship are guaranteed a $500,000 payday. 

The Big Swing 

For the first time this season, the Big Swing goes to the same winner back-to-back weeks. The 43-year-old veteran Lucas Glover won last week at the Wyndham Championship to get himself into the FedEx Cup playoffs. While some questioned Glover’s game, he came back this week and picked up right where he left off a week ago. This time he did it in a field that included the 70 best players from this season. Essentially all the biggest names were in this field, making Glover an afterthought again. With the win, Glover became the first player over 40 to win back-to-back on the PGA Tour since Vijay Singh in 2008.

Glover opened the week with a 4-under round of 66, but found himself trailing Jordan Spieth who opened with an impressive 63. He backed it up with an even better round of 64, and found himself leading once again heading into the weekend. One of the things that makes the playoffs so exciting is the leaderboards. Rory McIlroy was one of the chasers, looking for his second win in a month as well as eyeing his fourth FedEx Cup title. Spieth was hoping to claim his first win of the year, and Tommy Fleetwood was still chasing his first career PGA Tour victory.

Coming down the stretch on Sunday, it was Patrick Cantlay  who posed the biggest threat. Cantlay fired a 67 on Saturday to move into contention, and came out firing Sunday as he tried to chase Glover down. He would card a bogey-free 64 and ultimately take the clubhouse lead where he would wait to see how his competitors would fare on the final holes.

Spieth had initially made a move by making birdies on holes 2 and 3, but he stalled and would end up making three bogeys on the back nine which spoiled his chances at a victory. McIlroy birdied the 18th to get to -14 and a round of 65, but it wouldn’t be enough as Cantlay had already posted -15 ahead of him. Fleetwood was the only other player who had a chance of catching Cantlay and Glover, but as his 20-foot birdie putt rolled past the hole, he would have to settle for a T3 finish with McIlroy. Glover had a real chance to win it on the 18th with about 22 feet for birdie but he also failed to capitalize. While the birdie on 16 to get Glover into a tie for the lead, arguably the highlight of his day came at the 14th hole where he made a 30-foot putt for bogey to keep himself in it by really limiting the damage. 

On the first playoff hole, Cantlay’s tee shot found the water on the left side, which really opened the door for the veteran. Glover striped his tee shot down the center and followed it up by hitting a solid iron shot to just outside 20 feet -- in a very similar spot to where he was in regulation a short time ago. Cantlay’s third shot settled just inside of Glover’s, so he would get a read on a must make to extend the playoff. When his putt failed to drop, Glover had won his second PGA Tour title in just seven days. More importantly, he jumps all the way from 49th to 4th in the FedEx Cup thanks to the 2,000 points he just earned, giving himself a real shot at the 18 million dollar prize. He also now makes a very strong case as a candidate for the US Ryder Cup team this fall in Rome. 

In the World of Women’s Golf 

This week the ladies best players were in Surrey, England at the Walton Heath Golf Club for the playing of their final major championship of the year -- the AIG Women’s Open. This week was all about 25-year-old Lilia Vu. The American won her first major title earlier this season at the Chevron Championship, and this week she picked up her second of the season. Vu opened with a 72 on Thursday, but caught fire the next day shooting 68 to put herself squarely in the mix heading into the weekend. 

Ally Ewing opened with impressive rounds of 68 and 66 to open up a big lead after 36 holes. Unfortunately, Ewing’s magic ran out on Saturday when she carded 75, and another 75 on Sunday brought her out of contention for most of the day on Sunday. 

Vu backed up her second-round 68 with a third-round 67, creating a Sunday battle for the title with the likes of Charley Hull, Amy Yang, Allisen Corpuz, and Hyo Joo Kim. Vu kept her foot on the gas Sunday and ran away from the field. She’d go on to make 6 birdies on her way to another 67 and won by a whopping six shots over Hull. Lilia Vu now has two major titles and has seemingly stepped into the upper echelon of the game.