This weekend Justin Rose, 45, became the oldest PGA Tour winner since Phil Mickelson claimed the PGA Championship at Kiawah four years ago when he was 50.
With the FedEx St. Jude Championship win, he added $3.6 million to his career earnings of more than $73 million—moving him to sixth place in all-time PGA Tour earnings. This was Rose’s 12th PGA Tour victory, and the prize was the largest winner’s check of his 27-year career. He also moved up to fourth in the FedEx Cup standings, and secured his first trip back to the Tour Championship since 2019.
Rose birdied four out of his last five holes at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tenn., to force his way into a playoff against U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, and took him out with a birdie on the third sudden-death playoff hole.
“There’s a pretty short list of guys that are competitive in that 45 to 50 sort of age range,” Rose said at a press conference after the tournament. “Historically, it was a bit of a waiting room for the Champions Tour. Obviously Phil bucked the trend, I feel like that’s good motivation.”
In his ascent from ninth to sixth place in career earnings, Rose passed three-time major champion Vijay Singh, 17-time tour winner Jim Furyk, and 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott.
Now, Rose eyes the top five with the opportunity to replace Dustin Johnson, who defected to LIV Golf in 2022.
- Tiger Woods: $120,999,166
- Rory McIlroy: $107,145,766
- Phil Mickelson: $96,727,968
- Scottie Scheffler: $92,156,470
- Dustin Johnson: $75,695,066
- Justin Rose: $73,167,517
A win at next week’s BMW Championship, which also has a $3.6 million prize, at Caves Valley in Owings Mills, Md., would put him in the top five. If he makes it, he’d be the only golfer with one major: Woods has 15, Mickelson six, McIlroy five, and Scheffler four.
Rose’s win also secured an automatic qualifier spot on Team Europe for the upcoming Ryder Cup at Bethpage, N.Y., in September.
