Jordan Spieth treated the Tour Championship as if it were a major. He played like it was, too.
Looking for a fitting finish to a sensational season, Spieth poured in putts from all over East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta and never gave Henrik Stenson or anyone else much of a chance Sunday. His final stroke was an 8-foot par putt that was right in the heart for a 1-under 69, and he leaned back with a smile of pure satisfaction.
The 22-year-old Texan became golf’s first $22 million man — a PGA Tour record with just over $12 million in prize money, and the $10 million bonus for the FedEx Cup.
“This is incredible,” Spieth said. “This is an event where we approach it like a major championship because we know this is possible at the end of it.”
Even when he missed back-to-back cuts to start the FedEx Cup playoffs, Spieth spent the month trying to peak for the most important event in the lucrative series. He was the first to show up at East Lake on Monday to start grinding on his game. And with a one-shot lead going into the final round Sunday, he was on the putting green three hours before his tee time for what caddie Michael Greller called the “early grind.”
“We only do this at the majors,” Greller said.
It all paid off so handsomely, especially that putter.
Spieth made three birdies in a four-hole stretch around the turn, and they were demoralizing for Stenson. Spieth made a 20-foot birdie on No. 8 for a two-shot swing that he never gave back. He made an 18-foot birdie on the par-5 ninth with Stenson already at tap-in range for birdie. And with Stenson just over 3 feet away for birdie on No. 11, Spieth curled in a 45-foot birdie putt.
“Eleven was a dagger,” Spieth said.
Spieth closed with seven pars for a four-shot victory over Stenson, Danny Lee (65) and Justin Rose (66). His fifth victory of the year, which includes the Masters and the U.S. Open, was worth $1,485,000 million and gave Spieth $12,030,465 for the year.
The previous record was $10.9 million by Vijay Singh in 2004.
And if that wasn’t enough, Spieth went back to No. 1 in the world.
Spieth became the youngest player since Horton Smith in 1929 to win five times in a season, and the youngest to claim the FedEx Cup title.
“It’s been a phenomenal year for him,” Stenson said. “I watched it firsthand at the first two rounds at Augusta, and he played phenomenal and putted phenomenal. And it was the same putting display, really, today — just an exhibition on the greens, to be honest.
“His putting and mental focus is the best in the world. It’s hard to argue that.”
And there’s no longer an argument for PGA Tour player of the year.
Champions: HERE
PGA European: Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand shot a bogey-free 67 to win the European Open in Bad Greisbach, Germany, by one shot on.
Jaidee, the overnight leader, had four birdies to add to his rounds of 68, 68 and 64 for a 17-under 267 on the Bad Griesbach course in southeastern Germany.
The 45-year-old Jaidee became the oldest player to win the European Open since Montgomerie in 2007 at age 44.
