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Jordan Spieth wins Tour Championship, FedEx Cup, sets tour earnings record

 
Jordan Spieth with his Sunday haul: the trophy for winning the season-ending Tour Championship in his left hand and the one for winning the FedEx Cup in his right. Spieth also sets the record for earnings in a PGA Tour season.
Jordan Spieth with his Sunday haul: the trophy for winning the season-ending Tour Championship in his left hand and the one for winning the FedEx Cup in his right. Spieth also sets the record for earnings in a PGA Tour season.
Published Sept. 28, 2015

ATLANTA — At age 22, Jordan Spieth became the first $22 million man in golf Sunday.

Spieth capped off a dream season when he poured in putts from all over East Lake and closed with 1-under 69 for a four-shot victory in the Tour Championship, the final event of the PGA Tour season. That was all he needed to become the youngest player to capture the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus.

His fifth victory of the year — including two majors, the Masters and U.S. Open — was worth $1.485 million and allowed him to set a tour season record for official earnings with a little more than $12 million. He surpassed Vijay Singh's $10.9 million in 2004.

And if that wasn't enough, Spieth went back to the No. 1 ranking in the world.

"This is an event where we approach it like a major championship because we know this is possible at the end of it," he said. "This is one I cannot wait to celebrate."

Even when he missed back-to-back cuts to start the FedEx Cup playoffs — the last four tournaments of the season — 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 over Henrik Stenson going into the final round, 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."

It paid off, especially that putter. With nine holes left, Spieth's lead was two. On the par-3 11th, after Stenson made a birdie from in tight, Spieth followed with a 45-foot birdie. Stenson just stared at Spieth with a wry smile and patted him on the back. "Eleven was a dagger," said Spieth, who finished at 9-under 271.

Stenson (72) and tied for second with Danny Lee (65) and Justin Rose (66).

"It's been a phenomenal year for (Spieth)," Stenson said. "His putting and mental focus is the best in the world. It's hard to argue that."

Jason Day, whom Spieth supplanted as No. 1, shot 68 and finished 2 under. This is the first time the No. 1 ranking changed hands for six straight weeks.

Rory McIlroy, who was in that No. 1 rotation, shot 4-over 74 — he had triple bogey on the par-4 17th — and finished 1 over. Still, his two tour wins made him part of another notable feat: The tour had 24 wins by players in their 20s this year, the most since 1970. It topped the 23 in 1974.

Spieth became the sixth player since 1980 to win at least five times in a season. (One of his wins was at the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook in Palm Harbor.) The others: Tom Watson, Nick Price, Singh, Tiger Woods and Day, who also did it this year. The last time the tour had two five-time winners in the same season was 1973, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf. This is just the fifth time since 1960.

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Spieth's win makes him a shoe-in for player of the year. Among his other accomplishments, Spieth made a spirited bid for the Grand Slam and joined Nicklaus and Woods as the only players to finish no worse than fourth in all the majors. He won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average.

The only question he couldn't answer was what he will do for an encore. "I don't know how we are going to improve on this season, but we are going to sit down and figure out how," he said.

Champions: Esteban Toledo held off Tom Watson by a stroke at Pebble Beach in the First Tee Open in California. Toledo shot 3-under 69 for 9-under 206 total. Watson shot 67. Second-round leader Colin Montgomerie closed with 73 to tie for third at 7 under with Vijay Singh (69) and Woody Austin (70).

ESPN and the Golf Channel contributed to this report.