ATLANTA — You retain kicking on the door lengthy sufficient, and someday you’re going to interrupt it down. Tommy Fleetwood, 0-for-a-career in PGA Tour occasions, sufferer of two heartbreaking Sunday losses within the final two months, lastly introduced dwelling a victory on Sunday on the Tour Championship. In a 12 months the place golf delivered so many feelgood finishes, this was the most effective.
However, after all, it needed to include some drama, as a result of nothing ever comes straightforward for Fleetwood.
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Standing on the fifteenth tee, with 200 lengthy yards of water in entrance of him and Patrick Cantlay three strokes behind him, Fleetwood confronted perhaps essentially the most consequential gap of his skilled life. He’d dunked this shot within the water on Saturday, and one other water ball might nicely have damaged him. However on Sunday, the ball held the sloping inexperienced, and, even with a bogey, Fleetwood might exhale. He prevented catastrophe, then cruised by means of the ultimate three holes to assert victory by three strokes over Patrick Cantlay and Russell Henley.
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One other Georgia event holds declare to the idea that the fireworks don’t actually start till the again 9 on Sunday, however the Tour Championship offered its personal share of August drama on Sunday afternoon. Within the dialog: Fleetwood, who famously had by no means received a PGA Tour occasion; Russell Henley, an under-the-radar native who’s been enjoying a few of the finest golf on Tour this 12 months; Patrick Cantlay, nonetheless technically on the surface trying in on the Ryder Cup group; Keegan Bradley, dealing with essentially the most momentous resolution any Ryder Cup captain has confronted in a long time; and Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1 all too briefly trying mortal.
This marked the primary time in latest reminiscence that the Tour Championship has ditched its tweaks and tics and gone to a straight winner-take-all format, that means any of the highest 30 gamers within the area might declare the FedEx Cup and the $10 million first-place prize with a win at East Lake. No extra beginning strokes, no extra factors compilations — simply win, child. It wasn’t precisely honest to Scheffler, who had been dominant all season, however then NFL groups don’t get a head-start within the Tremendous Bowl, and NBA groups don’t get granted a one-game lead within the Finals.
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That meant each participant had an opportunity, and by far essentially the most compelling story — and the one which introduced out superstar Twitter followers like Caitlin Clark and LeBron James — belonged to Fleetwood, the 34-year-old from England. For many of his profession, Fleetwood has held the rep of amiable, proficient bloke, at all times within the combine however by no means actually within the hunt. Since 2017, he’s recorded top-5 finishes in all 4 majors, seven in all. Outdoors of being well-known for not successful stateside, his most notable achievements have come within the Ryder Cup, the place he and Francesco Molinari have been an unstoppable duo in 2018, and the place he scored the decisive level in 2023.
Extra just lately, he’s suffered heartbreak in each the FedEx St. Jude Championship and the Vacationers Championship, holding a lead deep into Sunday earlier than surrendering it to Justin Rose and Bradley, respectively. So when he reached Sunday’s again 9 with a three-shot lead, nicely, Fleetwood formally entered heartbreak-or-triumph territory as soon as once more.
However issues instantly turned grim for Fleetwood, as Cantlay pulled off a two-shot transfer, birdieing the tenth whereas Fleetwood bogeyed it. Identical to that, Fleetwood’s three-shot lead was down to 1 with eight lengthy holes to go.
The fearsome Scheffler, attempting to develop into the primary back-to-back winner of this event, drew inside two strokes of Fleetwood with a birdie on the 14th … however instantly dunked his tee shot at 15 into the water. That led to a double-bogey and ejected him from competition. Bradley made a run till he, too, discovered the water at 15. Henley might by no means get a lot going to make a cost, Cantlay backed up each birdie with a bogey, leaving it Fleetwood in opposition to himself.
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After that bogey at 10, he birdied the twelfth and thirteenth to increase his lead again to a few strokes with 4 to play, offering some consolation heading into the depraved fifteenth. He took the bogey there, then simply wanted to maintain the wheels on over the ultimate three holes to gather the most important paycheck of his profession. Three pars later, the victory was his — the primary in his 164 profession PGA Tour begins.
The PGA Tour season is now over, bringing to a detailed a outstanding run of tournaments and winners that helped the tour regain its scores and aggressive footing after a number of years of wrestle. Nonetheless forward: the Ryder Cup, the place Fleetwood, Scheffler and one other 22 of their teammates will do battle at Bethpage Black.
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