ATLANTA — Tommy Fleetwood of England ended a summer time of heartache with the richest prize on the PGA Tour, successful the Tour Championship on Sunday for his first tour title to seize the FedEx Cup and its $10 million reward.
Fleetwood bought loads of assist firstly when Patrick Cantlay started bogey-double bogey and will by no means catch up. Scottie Scheffler hit his opening tee shot out-of-bounds and nonetheless was a risk till a tee shot into the water ended his hopes on the fifteenth.
By means of all of it, Fleetwood held his nerve. He closed with a 2-under 68 for a three-shot victory over Cantlay (71) and Russell Henley (69).
“I’ve been a PGA Tour winner for a long time, it’s just always been in my mind,” Fleetwood stated. “A lot of close calls, but I’ve always enjoyed the challenge.”
His first PGA Tour victory got here with two trophies — the FedEx Cup and the “Calamity Jane” reproduction putter for the Tour Championship.
Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley was inside one shot of the lead on the entrance 9 however wound up with a 70 to tie for seventh. He stated he was “dead tired,” and now has to determine whether or not to make use of one among his six captain’s picks on himself. He proclaims his picks Wednesday.
“The only thing I care about is on Sunday of the Ryder Cup, that we win the Ryder Cup. Then I’ll know I made the right decision,” he stated. “Until then, I won’t know. It’s going to be pretty wild.”
However this present day, this second, belonged to Fleetwood, enormously fashionable all over the world for dealing with so many shut calls with a refreshing perspective and pleasure for individuals who beat him.
An eight-time winner all over the world, no stranger to large phases on the Ryder Cup or his silver medal on the Olympics final summer time, Fleetwood was continually reminded about his failure to win on golf’s strongest circuit.
He noticed a one-shot lead flip right into a one-shot loss on the Vacationers when he took three putts from the entrance of the inexperienced and Bradley made birdie. Fleetwood let a two-shot lead with three holes left get away from him on the FedEx St. Jude Championship to begin the postseason.
For all of the harm, he by no means misplaced hope.
“Tomorrow might be my time, it might not,” he stated Saturday night earlier than his third strive going into the ultimate spherical with nobody in entrance him. “But I’ll still have a great time doing it.”
It was his time, and he had a blast.
1000’s of followers surrounded the 18th inexperienced at East Lake to look at the 34-year-old from England, all of them chanting, “Tommy! Tommy! Tommy!” Justin Rose, who rallied previous him to win two weeks in the past, and Shane Lowry caught round to share in his large second.
Fleetwood eliminated his cap when he tapped in for par, appeared to the cloudy sky and let these lengthy locks circulate as he let loose a yell.
Lastly, Fleetwood.
“This wasn’t the most comfortable I’ve been,” Fleetwood stated with a smile. “I feel like I’ve had a great attitude throughout it all. … I’m so happy I got it done.”
He began the ultimate spherical tied for the lead with Cantlay, the FedEx Cup champion from 2021 looking for his first win in three years. Cantlay made bogey on the primary, three-putted for double bogey on the second and instantly was 4 behind.
Cantlay by no means went away, nevertheless, and a two-shot swing on the tenth — Fleetwood made bogey from the left tough, Cantlay made a 5-foot birdie — narrowed the hole to 1 shot. The subsequent three holes have been pivotal.
Cantlay didn’t get on the inexperienced from a bunker on the par-3 eleventh and made bogey. Fleetwood birdied the following two holes with wedges to the 6-foot vary, and Cantlay may solely match one among them.
The final large hurdle was the 218-yard fifteenth to a peninsula inexperienced, the place Fleetwood went within the water Saturday and made double bogey. This time he managed a bogey and didn’t miss a step the remainder of the way in which in ending at 18-under 262.
Cantlay was two again with three to play when he missed the sixteenth fairway and made bogey.
“It’s always good to have a chance on Sunday and to be right there. I’ve been there plenty of times, and any time you get in that spot, it’s a real pleasure,” he stated.
Henley went 13 straight holes and not using a birdie and couldn’t put any critical strain on him.
Scheffler’s begin was much more surprising. His tee shot went left and disappeared underneath a fence, out-of-bounds. Then, he bought up-and-down from 201 yards to salvage a bogey. He ran off three birdies in 4 holes to complete the flip, making a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-3 ninth.
However he missed a 5-foot birdie on the tenth, and his hopes ended with a 5-iron that went into the water on the fifteenth for double bogey. He closed with a 68.
There’s no doubting the most effective this yr. Scheffler received 5 occasions, together with two majors. He completed the season with 21 consecutive rounds within the 60s, and he has gone 5 straight months ending no worse than fifth. He was attempting to develop into the primary back-to-back FedEx Cup champion.
“I battled all week to give myself a chance. I wasn’t as sharp as I would have hoped to have,” Scheffler stated. “I had a good first round, but outside of that didn’t really play my best the first few days. Still gave myself a shot. Just needed a few better swings.”
Cameron Younger additionally lingered for a lot of the ultimate spherical and shot 66 to tie for fourth with Scheffler and Corey Conners (62), strengthening his bid to make his first Ryder Cup group earlier than house followers in New York.
Younger received, and two high 5s within the FedEx Cup playoffs and tied for eleventh within the final month.
Initially Revealed: August 24, 2025 at 4:06 PM PDT