Justin Rose Commits Treason In Memphis, Tommy Fleetwood Has No Dog, JJ Spaun Love, Ryder Cup Team Takes Shape

Another Sunday that was supposed to be Tommy Fleetwood's that ultimately turned into someone else's. At this point, Fleetwood not winning golf tournaments on the PGA Tour is beyond a level of expectation; it's routine. 

There was an insult to injury this time around as well, with fellow Englishman Justin Rose killing Fleetwood's dream at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. The 45-year-old in this scenario having way more dog than the 34-year-old searching for his first win on Tour is concerning.

Tommy Fleetwood Chokes Away FedEx St. Jude Championship, Still Chasing First PGA Tour Win

Speaking of having dog, JJ Spaun has an abundance, and after his Sunday performance in Memphis, the narrative has flipped on what expectations should be for the U.S. Open winner at the Ryder Cup this fall.

As expected, Keegan Bradley's U.S. Ryder Cup team has taken a firm shape with just two FedEx Cup playoff events remaining. The biggest question at this point centers around the captain himself, and whether or not he's going to play two roles. 

Par Talk readers, feel free to email me at mark.harris@outkick.com with your thoughts, concerns, ideas, etc., or you can also holler at me on X @itismarkharris.

Justin Rose's Act Of Treason In Memphis

Heading into Sunday's final round in Memphis, the entire world was expecting to see World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler quickly erase his two-shot deficit and chase down Fleetwood. That happened in just a handful of holes, with JJ Spaun successfully playing chase as well.

We had ourselves a three-horse race with Fleetwood, Spaun, and Scheffler, with Rose being an afterthought after shooting 1-over on the front nine. Or so we thought.

We forgot that Justin Rose thrives when playing the role of chaser when running out of holes. The man who made six birdies on his final eight holes to get into a playoff at the Masters in April flipped that same switch again on the back nine in Memphis.

Rose's four-straight birdies on 14, 15, 16, and 17 were magic, and not normal behavior out of a 45-year-old contending with the No. 1 player in the world, the U.S. Open winner, and a close friend in Fleetwood searching for his first win. 

Just the stretch of play to ultimately get into the playoff with Spaun was validation of his heartbreaking loss at Augusta National to Rory McIlroy four months ago, and then to go on and win the tournament on the third extra hole was about as impressive as it gets.

Rose has long been one of the more consistent and well-respected players in the world, but we may all be guilty of overlooking his resume.

His win in Memphis marked his first win on Tour since February 2023. Rose now has 12 PGA Tour victories, 11 wins on the European Tour, a U.S. Open, six additional Top 3 finishes in majors, a FedEx Cup, and an Olympic gold medal. That is one hell of a career that dates back to his maiden win on the Tour back in 2010.

Tommy Fleetwood May Be Too Nice

Tommy Fleetwood is class. He's incredibly likable, does and says all the right things, and comes across as just a genuinely great human. 

In the grand scheme of life, those are the qualities that matter. When it comes to winning golf tournaments, those aspects typically need to be cast aside; a player has to show some form of killer instinct, and for whatever reason, Fleetwood can not tap into that headspace while he's inside the ropes of a PGA Tour event.

We can't sit here and say that Fleetwood doesn't possess that go-out-and-get-it gene, because the man has won seven times on the European Tour against very strong fields, but we can absolutely say he's forgotten how to tap into that winner's mindset. On top of that, he's a human, and saying his plethora of close calls on Tour while constantly hearing that he's ‘the guy who can’t win' has to be weighing on him.

Sunday's final round in Memphis was just the latest example, and it was his incredibly slow and safe start that cost him.

Fleetwood, and Rose to be fair, made bogeys on the first hole to immediately open the door for Scheffler and Spaun playing in the penultimate group ahead. 

For me, it was Fleetwood's approach to the Par 5 third hole that screamed ‘I’m not cut out to win.'

After hitting a great drive to find the fairway, Fleetwood was left with 227 yards to the hole. He ultimately pulled his approach shot left and was left with a 35-yard pitch shot. Yes, the green was running away from him to a pin sitting on a shelf with water behind it, but it was still a spot to be moderately aggressive and give yourself a strong birdie chance on one of only two Par 5s on the golf course.

Instead, Fleetwood couldn't have played his third shot more conservatively, hit his pitch to 46 feet giving himself no chance at birdie, and walked away with a par. 

He wouldn't pick up his first birdie of the day until the 12th hole, picked up two more on the 13th and 15th holes, but then missed a seven-footer for par on 17 to complete the inevitable outcome of not winning the golf tournament.

You can't not respect Fleetwood's post-round remarks and his positive messaging, but we may have reached the point where the man needs to show some anger, because the internal optimist approach is 0-for-162 on the PGA Tour.

The JJ Spaun Narrative Flip

JJ Spaun was already a lock to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team before hitting a single shot at the FedEx St. Jude Championship this week, but after his performance in Memphis, it feels like he's flipped the script when it comes to expectations at Bethpage Black later this fall.

Spaun is hitting the golf ball like a generational flusher at the moment and has legitimately been one of the best ball strikers on Earth in 2025. That will bode well at any golf course and in any event, but maybe what's most important is that Spaun will make his Ryder Cup debut already battle-tested this season.

Sure, he certainly wishes he had three wins under his belt in 2025 as opposed to ‘just’ his U.S. Open victory, but coupling becoming a major champion with playoff losses at The Players and in a playoff event, plus another T-2 at the Cognizant, and you have the makeup of a guy who has been in the fire more recently than plenty of Ryder Cup'ers.

Spaun has gone from a guy who may sit out a couple of sessions at Bethpage to a player who may be relied upon to play in at least three sessions before the singles matches.

The U.S. Ryder Cup Team If It Started Today

With the start of the Ryder Cup being less than 50 days away, it's time to start making U.S. team predictions, and I think this is the team Bradley should take to Bethpage as of August 11. Spoiler alert: this will probably change a dozen times between now and the team officially being selected:

Scottie Scheffler

Xander Schauffele

Bryson DeChambeau

JJ Spaun

Justin Thomas

Russell Henley

Collin Morikawa

Patrick Cantlay

Harris English

Keegan Bradley

Cameron Young

Ben Griffin

Oddly enough, it feels like Bradley is the biggest question mark among those 12 names. After winning the Travelers Championship in June, he's missed one cut and hasn't finished inside the Top 30 in each of his last four starts.