Pay the man: Tommy Fleetwood earns $10 million for first PGA Tour victory

Tommy Fleetwood didn’t hit the jackpot at East Lake Golf Club. That implies a lucky, random result. Fleetwood earned his way into the Tour Championship and cashed $10 million for winning the FedEx Cup playoff. It was the best possible time for his first PGA Tour victory

Fleetwood, 34, won his first tour event on his 164th try. He’s been a runner-up six times, including twice in the past two months. Fleetwood started Sunday as co-leader with 2021 Tour Championship winner Patrick Cantlay. He turned back challenges from Cantlay, defending champion Scottie Scheffler and world No. 4 Russell Henley.

Pay the man.

“It’s easy for anyone say they are resilient, that they bounce back, that they have fight,” Fleetwood said. “It’s different when you have to actually prove it.”

Fleetwood did it by taking the lead after the first hole of the final round and holding it for the rest of the day. He shot 68 to finish 18 under par, three strokes clear of Cantlay and Henley.

Fleetwood is the second player to claim the Tour Championship as their first victory on tour. Chad Campbell did it in 2003 in Houston. That’s before the tournament was a big-money event as part of golf’s playoff.

England’s Fleetwood has won about $35 million on the DP World Tour. He came to East Lake with $33 million in career PGA Tour earnings, the most for a player who’s never won a tournament. Fleetwood had never come close to this kind of payday, and he won’t again, unless he can repeat as FedEx Cup champion.

The Tour Championship’s $10 million winning payout is the largest on tour, with the Players Championship ($4.5 million) a distant second. Fleetwood earned nearly as much prize money in one tournament than he did in 40 tour events from 2023-24 ($11 million). Fleetwood nearly doubled the total prize money earned for his eight DP World Tour victories ($5.9 million).

Fleetwood’s chances of cashing in increased early in the day. He scored par at No. 1 and birdie at No. 2 while Cantlay bogeyed both holes. World No. 1 Scheffler opened his round with a bogey to fall behind Fleetwood by five strokes. Fleetwood made the turn with a three-shot lead over Cantlay and Georgia Bulldog Henley.

The big paycheck was within Fleetwood’s grasp. He just needed to avoid fumbling the bag. It wasn’t easy. Scheffler and Cantlay made bids to snag away the Cup and the money.

Cantlay got within one stroke of Fleetwood’s lead when he made birdie at No. 10 to Fleetwood’s bogey. Fleetwood went up by two strokes over Cantlay at the next hole. Meanwhile, Scheffler made a birdie at No. 14 to join Cantlay at two strokes behind Fleetwood.

Fleetwood got some breathing room when Scheffler hit his tee shot into the water at the par-3 15th on the way to a double bogey. Cantlay made a 23-foot birdie putt at No. 12 to trim Fleetwood’s lead to one stroke again, but Fleetwood also made his birdie putt.

Cantlay’s short birdie putt at No. 13 lipped out. Fleetwood sank his six-foot putt for birdie. Fleetwood led by three shots with five holes to play. There was a bit of drama for him at the par-3 15th: Fleetwood’s tee shot went long and settled in the collection area and his chip shot ran 16 feet past the hole.

Fleetwood made bogey to Cantlay’s par.

“I felt like I’d lost my swing, really,” Fleetwood said.

He found it again while shooting par at each of the final three holes. Cantlay bogeyed No. 16. Fleetwood just needed to hold a two-shot lead over the final two holes to the biggest cash prize in golf. He was up by three strokes after No. 17, and no one could catch him.

Winning at East Lake made up for Westwood’s recent near misses. He lost the Travelers Championship when Keegan Bradley made birdie on the final hole after Fleetwood missed a par putt. Fleetwood had the lead to start the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship but finished one stroke out of the playoff after missing a short par putt at No. 17.

“I took away that I did so many good things until the dying moments of the tournament,” Fleetwood said.

Fleetwood did all the right things while under pressure at East Lake. The compelling finish was possible because of the tour’s wise decision to eliminate the “starting strokes” format after four years. Under the old rules, Westwood would have started five strokes behind Scheffler on Thursday.

This year, all 30 golfers started at par.

“A nice rule change this year,” Fleetwood said shortly after lifting the trophy on the 18th green.

Fleetwood didn’t win a $10 million jackpot. He won bonus money for making it to the third and final round of golf’s playoffs and finally winning his first tour event.