Who won ‘Jeopardy!’ tonight? Peter McFerrin risks big on the board in intense match
On Monday's episode of 'Jeopardy!', Peter McFerrin defeated Chris D'Angelo and became the new champion. Now he is back to defend the title against Alex Reyes, from Panorama City, California, and Savannah Madeira from Kempton, Pennsylvania. During the introduction segment, Ken Jennings revealed that McFerrin had ties with James Holzhauer and Yogesh Raut. To those unaware, Holzhauer achieved an impressive 32-game winning streak on the show in 2019, and Raut had a 4-day-streak in 2023, which paved the way for him to become the reigning champion of 'Jeopardy! Masters.' "We learned that Peter had quite the 'Jeopardy!' pedigree in his past. He once captained a high school state-winning scholastic bowl team that also featured none other than the reigning Jeopardy! Masters champion, Yogesh Raut," Jennings explained. "And he played on a softball team with a youngster then known as Jamie Holzhauer."
McFerrin started the episode in less-than-stellar fashion, to say the least. By clue 15 of 'Jeopardy!', he was dead last with $2,000. At the same point, Madeira was leading with $3,400, and Reyes had $3,000. After the first commercial break, McFerrin began clawing his way back, reaching the second spot by the time clue 25 arrived. The champion detected a Daily Double (DD) on clue number 26. McFerrin had $4,600, just $300 away from the top spot. The energy industry professional decided to wager $1,000. The DD belonged to the category 'Hold Everything!' and its clue read, "Through a lease, Great Britain held on to this special administrative region east of the Pearl River Estuary from 1898 to 1997." The answer was "What is Hong Kong?" and McFerrin was on point with his response.
Heading into 'Double Jeopardy,' (DJ) McFerrin was leading the points table with $6,200; Reyes had taken over the second spot with $4,200, and Madeira had $3,800. This round featured an intense back and forth between McFerrin and Reyes. By clue four, Reyes had overtaken McFerrin with $6,600 in his kitty. Just in the next clue, though, the tables turned, and McFerrin again went on top. DD luck again shone on McFerrin, who found the second one of the game in clue 10. The DD belonged to the category, 'All Science,' and the clue read, "Ekman spirals form in the ocean because of the deflection of currents due to this effect named for a Frenchman." The California native responded with, "What is the Coriolis effect?" which was deemed correct. McFerrin had now further enhanced his lead with total winnings of $12,000.
The final DD also came for McFerrin on clue number 15. As he was $12,000 ahead of the second-ranked contestant on the list, McFerrin decided to take a big swing and wager $6,000 on the DD. The DD's category was 'Geographic Before & After,' and its clue read, "Span that links Marin County to San Francisco while also leading to the Doge's Palace." McFerrin responded with "What is the Golden Gate Bridge of Sighs?" which was adjudged correct. He now had $23,600 to his name. Heading into 'Final Jeopardy,' (FJ) McFerrin had a runaway lead with $32,400, Madeira had the second rank with $7,800, while Reyes was at the bottom with $5,400.
What is architecture without its heroes? 🦸 pic.twitter.com/0pVYZpLbDY
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) June 3, 2026
The FJ was from the category '20th Century Novels' and its clue read, "An introductory note to this novel offered gratitude to 'the great profession of architecture and its heroes.'" Reyes and McFerrin answered correctly with "What is The Fountainhead?" which took them to $10,800 and $49,199, respectively. Reyes turned in a wrong answer and dwindled to $4,799. McFerrin's big swings and DD luck resulted in him walking away with a two-day total of $68,198. The energy industry professional will return to defend his title on Wednesday's episode. 'Jeopardy!' is a syndicated program available for streaming on Hulu and Peacock.
