Fleetwood Secures Tour Championship Victory, Bradley Faces Ryder Cup Decision
ATLANTA, GA – Tommy Fleetwood claimed his first Tour Championship title on Sunday at East Lake Golf Club, finishing at 17 under par to edge out a challenging field. The victory marks a career milestone for Fleetwood, while Scottie Scheffler‘s bid for back-to-back FedEx Cup titles fell short despite a strong late push.
Scheffler, the World No. 1,struggled from the outset,beginning with a bogey on the first hole after his tee shot went out of bounds.he briefly regained momentum with four birdies, but a double-bogey on the par-3 15th effectively ended his chances. Scheffler finished tied for fourth at 14 under, carding a 2-under 68.Notably, this result extended his streak of consecutive top-10 finishes to 14, tying Jack nicklaus’s record from 1977 for the longest such streak in the past 50 years.
Patrick Cantlay’s hopes also diminished with a bogey on the par-4 16th.Corey Conners, who fired an impressive 8-under 62 on Sunday, and Cameron Young (66) joined Scheffler in a tie for fourth.
“I battled all week to give myself a chance,” Scheffler said. ”I wasn’t as sharp as I would have hoped to have. 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.”
Keegan Bradley, who finished further down the leaderboard, faces a important decision as the U.S. Ryder Cup captain. He will announce his six captain’s picks on Wednesday and is openly considering selecting himself for the team. Bradley also struggled on the 15th hole, finding the water and carding a double-bogey.
“No matter what decision that I make here, I could have gone the other way easily, no matter what,” Bradley stated. “The only thing I care about is on Sunday of the Ryder Cup, that we win the ryder Cup. Then I’ll know I made the right decision. Until then, I won’t know. It’s going to be pretty wild.Whatever decision we make, we’re going to have to live with it. I love the guys on our team. They’re all playing great. It’s just really something else. It’s awesome.”
The last time a playing captain lead a team in the Ryder Cup was in 1963, when Arnold Palmer guided the Americans to victory at East Lake. Bradley is currently ranked no. 13 in the Official World Golf Ranking, second only to Scheffler in victories on tour over the past year.
Maverick McNealy, currently 10th in Ryder Cup points and finishing tied for 23rd at 6 under this week, expressed confidence in Bradley’s judgment. “Nobody wants to win the Ryder Cup more than Keegan bradley,” McNealy said.”I know he’s going to make the decision that’s best for the team. Ultimately, it comes down to who plays the best golf.”
Interestingly, Chad Campbell won the 2003 Tour Championship at Champions Golf Club in Houston.
