Washington (AFP) – Tommy Fleetwood ended an agonizingly long wait for a first PGA Tour title on Sunday, out-dueling Patrick Cantlay down the stretch to win the Tour Championship and pocket the $10 million top prize and FedEx Cup playoffs crown. England’s Fleetwood, a seven-time DP World Tour winner whose 30 prior top-fives on the US circuit included six runner-up finishes, fired a two-under-par 68 for an 18-under-par total of 262 and a three-shot triumph at East Lake in Atlanta, Georgia.
Two weeks after he let a late Sunday lead get away in the St. Jude Championship, Fleetwood finished three strokes clear of former FedEx Cup champion Cantlay and world number five Russell Henley. “I’m just so happy that I got it done and happy with my work ethic,” Fleetwood said. “And I’ll continue to try and get better and try and be the best that I can be.”
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Tied with Cantlay for the lead to start the round, Fleetwood rolled in a 19-foot birdie at the par-three second. He gave a stroke back at the fifth, where he was in the right rough off the tee, but pushed his lead to three strokes with birdies at the sixth and seventh – where he fired out of a fairway bunker to 12 feet. Fleetwood preserved the advantage with a great par save at the eighth, but another errant tee shot at 10 led to a bogey. Suddenly, his lead was down to one stroke as Cantlay rolled in a five-foot birdie at the 10th.
“I was a bit erratic today at times and I was really proud of how I found my swing again on the, like 11th or 12th hole,” Fleetwood said. Cantlay, the 2021 FedEx Cup champion who claimed the most recent of his eight US tour titles in 2022, got off to a disastrous start with a bogey at the first and a double-bogey at the second. But he steadied with a birdie at the third and added another at the par-five sixth, where he fired out of a greenside bunker to three feet.
However, after the two-shot swing at the 10th brought him closer, Cantlay let the pressure drop. He was in the bunker short of the green on the way to a bogey at the 11th. Both Fleetwood and Cantlay birdied the 12th, and Fleetwood’s lead was back to three strokes after he rapped in a six-foot birdie at the 13th – where Cantlay’s eight-foot birdie effort circled the cup but didn’t drop.
Fleetwood bogeyed the par-three 15th, but after Cantlay’s bogey at 16, the Englishman went to the 17th with a three-shot lead and to the delight of a throng of fans, finally closed out the win. “I don’t know, when you’ve lost it so many times, a three-shot lead coming down the last doesn’t feel like that many,” admitted Fleetwood, who said he finally felt safe when he chipped to about eight feet at the par-five finishing hole. “You just keep learning, don’t you,” Fleetwood said. “This is just hopefully one win, the first of many to come. You can’t win plenty if you don’t win the first one.”
Cantlay carded a one-over par 71 and was joined on 265 by Henley, who had two birdies and one bogey in his one-under 69. World number one Scottie Scheffler, whose five victories this year include major titles at the PGA Championship and British Open, struggled to find consistency. But after rebounding from a double-bogey at the 15th with a birdie at 16, he signed for a two-under 68 that left him tied for fourth on 266 with Canadian Corey Conners and American Cameron Young. Conners charged up the leaderboard with an eight-under-par 62 while Young posted a 66.
US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley capped another strong week with an even-par 70 that left him tied for seventh on 267 with Justin Thomas and Sam Burns. The 39-year-old’s solid play this season has stoked speculation he could name himself a playing captain for the Ryder Cup match play showdown with Europe next month.
© 2024 AFP
