by: Alana Brown-Davis
The drought is up and with that a new bearer of the title of FedEx Cup Champion. Professional golfer Tommy Fleetwood had never won a PGA Tour title until this Sunday. At East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, GA, Tommy Fleetwood won the tournament over Patrick Cantlay and Russell Henley in three strokes. This was his 164th event in the series, a long road to a defining breakthrough.
The English golfer plays for both the European tour and the PGA tour. Fleetwood has made waves in the European series with seven wins, his most recent being in 2024. In 2024, he also won a silver medal for Great Britain in the 2024 Olympic Games.
“It’s easy for anybody to say that they are resilient, that they bounce back, that they have fight,” Fleetwood said Sunday in ESPN. “It’s different when you actually have to prove it.”
This title was a hard fought one for Fleetwood, but he never shied away from the challenge. Before this weekend, he had 30 top five finishes which included six second place finishes. According to ESPN, this is the most for any golfer without a win in the last century. Just recently, Fleetwood lost by a shot to Keegan Bradley in the Travelers Championship in June. Later on in Memphis at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Fleetwood tied for third.
“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.”
In addition to the FedEx Cup, Fleetwood also won $10 million. His career earnings are $33.4 million the most for a golfer who hadn’t won on tour.
Fleetwood isn’t finished yet though. Next month, he will join the European team in the Ryder Cup in New York.