https://www.bbc.com/sport/golf/articles/cx2xdjxwv4no
Fleetwood wins Tour Championship for first PGA Tour title
Emotional Fleetwood 'proud' of first PGA Tour title
Tour Championship, final leaderboard
-18 T Fleetwood (Eng); -15 P Cantlay (US), R Henley (US); -14 S Scheffler (US), C Conners (Can), C Young (US)
Selected: -13 J Thomas (US), K Bradley (US); -11 V Hovland (Nor); -10 S Lowry (Ire); -9 R MacIntyre (Sco); -7 J Rose (Eng); -6 R McIlroy (NI)
Tommy Fleetwood held his nerve to win the Tour Championship and finally claim a first PGA Tour title at the 164th time of asking.
Emotion poured out of the 34-year-old Englishman after he holed the winning putt on the 18th green, saluting a crowd who chanted "Tommy, Tommy, Tommy" by raising both arms before letting out a huge roar.
His European Ryder Cup team-mate and friend Justin Rose was greenside to film the final putt and celebrations on his phone as Fleetwood wrapped up a three-shot victory on 18 under par to secure the FedEx Cup and a $10m (£7.4m) first prize.
"When you've lost so many times, a three-shot lead down the last doesn't feel like that many," joked Fleetwood, who had tears in his eyes.
"[The fans] are amazing, it makes me a bit emotional. I'm so lucky with the support I get - it's so special and I hope everyone knows how grateful I am for it."
It is an eighth career title for Fleetwood, whose previous seven came on the European-based DP World Tour, and means he has shaken off the unwanted tag of being the nearly man of the American circuit.
Twice previously this season he had either led, or jointly led after three rounds without completing the victory. He has had 30 top-five finishes over his career - six this year - which was the most of anyone without a win.
"You just keep learning," said Fleetwood, who is set to improve to sixth in the world rankings when they are updated on Monday. "This probably wasn't the most comfortable because, as they rack up, you obviously start to think of things.
"But I feel like I've had a great attitude throughout it all. This is hopefully just one win, the first of many. You cannot win plenty if you don't win the first one."
He becomes the first player in the FedEx Cup era - which goes back to 2007 - to claim his breakthrough PGA Tour title at the Tour Championship and he is the second Englishman to win it, after Rose in 2018.
Fleetwood is also the first player to finish inside the top six of the leaderboard after every round of the FedEx Cup play-offs and he ended the three-tournament end-of-season series with an aggregate score of 43 under par over the 12 rounds.
And he secured this victory with an assuredness that will give European golf fans a huge boost with next month's Ryder Cup in New York looming large on the horizon.
Woods and LeBron praise Fleetwood
The Southport-born golfer is one of the most popular players in the sport and as well as the acclaim of his legions of fans, his victory was lauded by 15-time major winner Tiger Woods.
The former world number one posted on X: "Your journey is a reminder that hard work, resilience, and heart do pay off. No one deserves it more. Congrats."
Woods' sentiment was echoed by basketball legend LeBron James who wrote: "Congrats @TommyFleetwood1!!! That first one feeling is something else."
Perhaps the message that may the mean most came from his favourite Premier League football team: "Lifelong Evertonian. PGA Tour title winner. Congratulations @TommyFleetwood1".
Meanwhile, Rose wrote on Instagram: "This felt as good as winning myself! So happy for my man @officialtommyfleetwood for the relentless pressure cooker his quality golf has put him in during these play-offs and there is no more deserving champ."
Fleetwood himself was keen to offer thanks for the support he has received over the years while trying to get a first victory on the PGA Tour over the line.
"I've been a PGA Tour winner for a long time, it's just been in my mind," he said.
"I hope I always make it clear how grateful I am for the support. There are times when I've felt pretty shocking walking off the golf course, and the support from people helped me immensely."
How Fleetwood won Tour Championship
Having been the joint leader heading into Sunday, he burst into an early lead and never trailed, overcoming a slight wobble midway through the round as he repelled challenges from defending champion Scottie Scheffler and former winner Patrick Cantlay.
His popularity was clear to hear on the first tee at Atlanta's East Lake course when he was given a far louder ovation than American Cantlay.
The pair were in the final group and locked at 16 under after the first three rounds, but Fleetwood was four clear of his playing partner within two holes after he birdied the second, while Cantlay - who won this title in 2021 - opened with a bogey and double bogey.
Scheffler's challenge was dealt a setback on the first when the world number one, who was starting four shots adrift, hit his opening tee shot out of bounds.
But any thoughts that Fleetwood would stroll to the title were checked by a bogey on the fifth.
Bounce-back birdies on the sixth and seventh moved him three clear with nine to play, but the drama was far from over.
A bogey on the 10th, coupled with a Cantlay birdie, saw his lead reduced to one. And the pair were also asked to increase their speed of play, given they had fallen almost two holes behind the group in front.
Fleetwood pushed his lead back out to two with birdies on the 12th and 13th holes.
But Scheffler, a winner of the Open Championship and US PGA Championship this year, was still lurking. A birdie on the 14th lifted Scheffler to 15 under and two back, However, his challenge finally ended in the water on the par-three 15th as he posted a double-bogey five.
Moments later US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley's hopes suffered the same fate on the same hole.
Bradley, who will on Wednesday decide whether to pick himself among his six selections for next month's 45th staging of the Ryder Cup, at Bethpage Black, flirted with the top of the leaderboard throughout Sunday before dumping his tee shot into the lake.
He had denied Fleetwood a first victory at the Travelers Championship in June but ran out of steam in Atlanta as he closed with a level-par 70 and 13-under total.
On a tough day at the Travelers, Fleetwood coughed up a two-shot lead with three to play.
A bogey on the 15th on this special Sunday meant he held that same lead, albeit over Cantlay.
However, Cantlay then dropped a shot at the 16th and Fleetwood was three clear with two to play, and that soon become a more comfortable three clear with one to play.
All the same, Fleetwood said he was unable to relax until his ball was on the green.
"Once I'd duffed that chip on to the green at 18 to about eight feet, I felt pretty safe from there," he said with a smile.
Bradley's playing partner Russell Henley also hung around without making any significant moves. He missed numerous birdie putts in a one-under 69 that left him joint second with Cantlay on 15 under.
Scheffler finished a shot further back, although he had the consolation of equalling Cantlay's PGA Tour record of shooting 21 successive rounds in the 60s. He was joined on 14 under by Canada's Corey Conners who had a bogey-free eight-under 62, the low round of the day.
