ATLANTA (AP) — Tommy Fleetwood never lost hope, never made excuses, each time that elusive PGA Tour victory slipped away. His popularity soared, not just as a sympathetic figure but for his attitude and the sincere joy he showed the players that beat him in the toughest of losses.
The cheers and the chants — “Tommy! Tommy! Tommy!” — he heard Sunday as he approached the 18th green at the Tour Championship provided the sweetest sound.
Finally, Fleetwood.
No stranger to the big stage around the world with eight titles and Ryder Cup heroics, Fleetwood finally cashed in on golf’s strongest circuit.
He closed with a 2-under 68 for a three-shot victory in the Tour Championship for his first PGA Tour title, picking up $10 million as the FedEx Cup champion.
“It’s easy to say you’re resilient but it’s hard when you have to be,” Fleetwood said. “I feel lucky I’ve had to show that side of myself. And I feel lucky that it’s paid off.”
Staked to a lead when Patrick Cantlay started bogey-double bogey, Fleetwood didn’t flinch when Cantlay closed to within one shot, when Scottie Scheffler made three birdies to build momentum going to the back nine, or when he stared over 200 yards of water to a peninsula green on the 15th hole, his last big obstacle.
“When you’ve lost it so many times, a three-shot lead down the last doesn’t feel like that many,” Fleetwood said with a smile before going to collect a reward long overdue.
Perhaps it was fitting that his first PGA Tour title in 164 tries came with two trophies — the FedEx Cup and the “Calamity Jane” replica putter for winning the Tour Championship.
“Your journey is a reminder that hard work, resilience, and heart do pay off. No one deserves it more,” Tiger Woods posted on social media.
Rory McIlroy was never a factor but was hopeful before leaving East Lake when the conversation turned to Fleetwood.
“I think it shows how great of an attitude he has towards the game, how resilient he is,” he said.
Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley was within one shot of the lead on the front nine but wound up with a 70 to tie for seventh. He said he was “dead tired,” and now has to decide whether to use one of his six captain’s picks on himself. He announces 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 said. “Until then, I won’t know. It’s going to be pretty wild.”
But this day, this moment, belonged to Fleetwood.
“It completes the story of the near-misses,” he said. “Winning on the PGA Tour was a step I wanted to take.”
He has been reminded far too often about a career lacking a PGA Tour victory. This was the third time in the last two months he went into the final round with no one in front of him, only to see someone else with the trophy.
He saw a one-shot lead turn into a one-shot loss at the Travelers when he took three putts from the front of the green and Bradley made birdie. Fleetwood let a two-shot lead with three holes left get away from him at the FedEx St. Jude Championship to start the postseason.
For all the hurt, he never lost hope.
“Tomorrow might be my time, it might not,” he said Saturday evening. “But I’ll still have a great time doing it.”
It was his time, and he had a blast.
Thousands of fans surrounded the 18th green at East Lake to watch the 34-year-old from England, all of them chanting his name. Justin Rose, who rallied past him to win two weeks ago, and Shane Lowry stuck around to share in his big moment.
Fleetwood removed his cap when he tapped in for par, looked to the cloudy sky and let those long locks flow as he let out a yell.
“This wasn’t the most comfortable I’ve been,” Fleetwood said with that easy smile. “I feel like I’ve had a great attitude throughout it all. … I’m so happy I got it done.”
Cantlay, who closed with a 71 to share second place with Russell Henley (69), never went away even after his rough start.
A two-shot swing on the 10th — Fleetwood made bogey from the left rough, Cantlay made a 5-foot birdie — narrowed the gap to one shot. The next three holes were pivotal. Cantlay made bogey on the par-3 11th. Fleetwood birdied the next two holes with wedges to the 6-foot range, and Cantlay could only match one of them.
The last big hurdle was the 218-yard 15th to a peninsula green, where Fleetwood went in the water Saturday and made double bogey. This time he managed a bogey and didn’t miss a step the rest of the way in finishing at 18-under 262.
Henley went 13 straight holes without a birdie and couldn’t put any serious pressure on him.
Scheffler’s start was even more shocking. His tee shot went left and disappeared under a fence, out-of-bounds. Then, he got up-and-down from 201 yards to salvage a bogey. He ran off three birdies in four holes to finish the turn, making a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-3 ninth.
But he missed a 5-foot birdie on the 10th, and his hopes ended with a 5-iron that went into the water on the 15th for double bogey. He closed with a 68.
There’s no doubting the best this year. Scheffler won five times, including two majors. He finished the season with 21 consecutive rounds in the 60s, and he has gone five straight months finishing no worse than fifth. He was trying to become the first 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 said. “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 Young also lingered for much of the final round and shot 66 to tie for fourth with Scheffler and Corey Conners (62), strengthening his bid to make his first Ryder Cup team before home fans in New York.
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