Tommy Fleetwood wins Tour Championship for first PGA Tour title and FedEx Cup

Tommy Fleetwood, of England, greets fans off the fourth tee during the final round of the Tour Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

ATLANTA — Tommy Fleetwood of England ended a summer of heartache with the richest prize on the PGA Tour. He won the Tour Championship on Sunday for his first tour title to capture the FedEx Cup and its US$10 million reward.

Fleetwood got plenty of help at the start when Patrick Cantlay began bogey-double bogey and could never catch up. Scottie Scheffler hit his opening tee shot out-of-bounds and still was a threat until a tee shot into the water ended his hopes on the 15th.

Through it all, 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 said. “A lot of close calls, but I’ve always enjoyed the challenge.”

His first PGA Tour victory came with two trophies — the FedEx Cup and the “Calamity Jane” replica putter for the Tour Championship.

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 now has to decide whether to use one of his six captain’s picks on himself. He announces his picks Wednesday.

But this day, this moment, belonged to Fleetwood, enormously popular around the world for coping with so many close calls with a refreshing perspective and joy for those who beat him.

An eight-time winner around the world, no stranger to big stages at the Ryder Cup or his silver medal at the Olympics last summer, Fleetwood was constantly reminded about his failure to win on golf’s strongest circuit.

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 to play 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 before his third try going into the final round with no one in front him. “But I’ll still have a great time doing it.”

He had a blast at East Lake, thousands of fans surrounding the green of a 34-year-old from England, all of them chanting, “Tommy! Tommy! Tommy!”

Fleetwood removed his cap, looked to the cloudy sky and let those long locks flow as he let out a yell.

Finally, Fleetwood.

“This wasn’t the most comfortable I’ve been,” Fleetwood said with a smile. “I feel like I’ve had a great attitude throughout it all. ... I’m so happy I got it done.”

He started tied for the lead with Cantlay, the FedEx Cup champion from 2021 searching for his first win in three years. He made bogey on the first, and then three-putted for double bogey on the second and suddenly was four behind.

Cantlay never went away, however, and 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 failed to get on the green from a bunker on the par-3 11th and made bogey. 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.

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.”

Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press