ATLANTA — Tommy Fleetwood’s long nightmare is over.
Following so many near misses, the English golfer finally picked up his first PGA Tour victory Sunday after posting a 2-under 68 to finish 18 under in the Tour Championship, three strokes ahead of Russell Henley and Patrick Cantlay at East Lake Golf Club.
It was Fleetwood’s 164th career start on the PGA Tour, and his long wait, while agonizingly painful and frustrating at times, was well worth it. He collected the FedEx Cup and $10 million for winning.
“It’s easy for anybody to say that they are resilient, that they bounce back, that they have fight,” Fleetwood said. “It’s different when you actually have to prove it.”
Though Fleetwood, 34, had won seven times on the DP World Tour and three other times around the world, he had yet to lift a trophy in a PGA Tour event — until Sunday.
“It shows how great of an attitude he has towards the game, how resilient he is,” Rory McIlroy said after posting an even-par 70 to tie for 23rd at 6 under. “If he gets it done today, that would be amazing. I think we’d all love him to.”
It’s not that Fleetwood wasn’t close previously. His 30 top-five finishes without a victory were the most on the PGA Tour in the past 100 years, according to ESPN Research. His $33.4 million in career earnings were the most for a golfer who hadn’t won on tour.
“I never really felt like it wouldn’t happen,” Fleetwood said. “But there’s always doubt there.”
Two of Fleetwood’s close calls came in the past two months. At the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, on June 22, he led by a shot going into the 72nd hole but three-putted and lost to Keegan Bradley by one.
“I’m upset now,” Fleetwood said at the time. “I’m angry. … It hurts.”
At the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis two weeks ago, Fleetwood had a two-shot lead with three holes to play in the first leg of the playoffs. He went 1 over down the stretch. Justin Rose beat J.J. Spaun in a playoff, while Fleetwood tied for third.
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“Winning on the PGA Tour was a step that I really wanted to take,” Fleetwood said. “You don’t need anything, but I wanted it. I wanted to do it. It sort of completes the story of the near misses.”
It wasn’t nearly as dramatic Sunday. After Fleetwood made a bogey on the 10th hole to cut his lead over Cantlay to one stroke, he carded birdies on Nos. 12 and 13 to go back up three. Fleetwood had a three-stroke lead on the 18th hole.
Cantlay’s bogey on the par-4 16th all but ended his comeback chances.
Fleetwood became the first golfer to capture his first victory in the Tour Championship at East Lake. Chad Campbell won the 2003 Tour Championship at Champions Golf Club in Houston.
World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler, who was trying to become the first golfer to win the FedEx Cup in back-to-back seasons, had trouble from the start Sunday.
On the opening hole, Scheffler badly pulled his tee shot down the left side. His ball bounced once and shot under a fence and out of bounds. He made a bogey to fall to 11 under, five shots behind Fleetwood.
After another bogey on the par-4 fifth, Scheffler picked up four birdies to get back into the mix. But then disaster struck when he hit his tee shot into the water on the par-3 15th. A double-bogey 5 knocked him out of the hunt.
Scheffler posted a 2-under 68 and tied for fourth at 14 under, his 14th consecutive top-10 finish, which tied Jack Nicklaus (1977) for the longest streak in the past 50 years.
Corey Conners, who carded an 8-under 62 on Sunday, and Cameron Young (66) tied for fourth as well.
“I battled all week to give myself a chance,” Scheffler said. “I wasn’t as sharp as I would have hoped to have. 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.”
Bradley, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, started the final round three strokes behind Fleetwood and Cantlay. But he couldn’t get much going, either. Bradley was also a victim of the tricky 15th hole when he pushed his tee shot right into the water, leading to a double-bogey 5.
Bradley will announce his six Ryder Cup captain’s picks Wednesday. He called the possibility of choosing himself the “biggest decision of my life.”
“No matter what decision that I make here, I could have gone the other way easily, no matter what,” Bradley said. “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.
“Until then, I won’t know. It’s going to be pretty wild. Whatever decision we make, we’re going to have to live with it. I love the guys on our team. They’re all playing great. It’s just really something else. It’s awesome.”
There hasn’t been a playing captain in the Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer led the Americans to a 23-9 rout at East Lake in 1963. Bradley is ranked No. 13 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and only Scheffler has more victories on tour over the past year.
“Nobody wants to win the Ryder Cup more than Keegan Bradley,” said Maverick McNealy, who is 10th in points and tied for 23rd at 6 under this week. “I know he’s going to make the decision that’s best for the team. At the end of the day, it comes down to who plays the best golf.”
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