Xander Schauffele wins TOUR Championship as Justin Thomas wins FedEx Cup and $10million jackpot
Xander Schauffele won the TOUR Championship on a dramatic day at East Lake which saw Justin Thomas named FedEx Cup Champion.
Final leaderbord
- -12 Xander Schauffele
- -11 Justin Thomas
- -10 Russell Henley
- -9 Kevin Kisner
- -8 Paul Casey, Brooks Koepka
- -7 Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Tony Finau
Scroll down for collated scores
Day four report
Xander Schauffele won the TOUR Championship on a dramatic day at East Lake which saw runner-up Justin Thomas named FedEx Cup Champion, landing him a 10million US dollars bonus.
Schauffele is now 11/8 with Sky Bet to make the USA Ryder Cup team in 2018 while Thomas is 12/1 to be top points scorer in the Presidents Cup next week.
Paul Casey suffered a nightmare final round having started the day with a two-shot lead and in pole position to celebrate the recent birth of his second child by winning his first PGA Tour title since 2009 and the £7.4million payday.
However, the 40-year-old could only card a closing three-over-par 73 to finish nine under par, three shots behind 23-year-old rookie Schauffele, whose 68 left him a shot ahead of compatriot Thomas.
Any of the 30 players in the field theoretically had a chance of the massive payout, but only the top five in the standings were assured of doing so by claiming the 1.53million dollars (£1.1million) first prize in Atlanta.
Open champion Jordan Spieth began the week with a 200-point lead over Thomas, with world number one Dustin Johnson, Marc Leishman and Jon Rahm the other players in control of their own destiny.
As the situation fluctuated on a hole-by-hole basis in the final round, Spieth was projected to win the FedEx Cup after holing his approach to the 10th for an eagle and tapping in for birdie on the 13th.
But a bogey on the 15th effectively ended his chances as Thomas moved into a share of the lead with birdies on the 16th and 17th, only for Schauffele to hold his nerve and birdie the last to win.
Thomas, whose five wins this season included a maiden major title in the US PGA Championship, told Sky Sports: "I'm bummed to not be in a play-off and have a chance to win but that was a gutsy birdie Xander made on 18.
"I was trying to win a golf tournament, winning the FedEx Cup is a great bonus.
"It's a feeling I've never experienced before, it's just weird because it didn't come with winning the golf tournament so it's hard to fully appreciate it. It's a tremendous honour and I'm really excited to have my name on the trophy."
Schauffele won 149,000 US dollars on the Web.com Tour last season, but collected more than 3.5million dollars on Sunday.
"It feels awesome," he said. "(I'm) a little speechless. I thought I'd missed the putt to win the tournament and fortunately it just lipped in. I was very relaxed for most of the day and got really nervous when I saw the leaderboard on 16."
Spieth had to settle for a tie for seventh but admitted his good friend Thomas was a deserving winner of the FedEx Cup title he won himself in 2015.
"It was a great season, if I could repeat it every year for the rest of my career I certainly would," Spieth said "I knew after the 10th hole that I could win the FedEx Cup and they just didn't quite go my way.
"I think it's rightfully so that he (Thomas) wins the season-long race this year. Five wins with a major championship and you'd like the FedEx Cup to go to the most deserving player for the entire year and I think that's him.
"I almost cheated my way into winning the FedEx Cup when he really deserved it. I'm very happy for him - I'm fortunate to have done it and it's really something else."
Fourth round collated scores
(USA unless stated, par 70):
268 Xander Schauffele 69 66 65 68
269 Justin Thomas 67 66 70 66
270 Russell Henley 67 71 67 65, Kevin Kisner 68 68 64 70
271 Paul Casey (Eng) 66 67 65 73
272 Brooks Koepka 66 69 68 69
273 Tony Finau 68 71 68 66, Jon Rahm (Spa) 67 67 70 69, Jordan Spieth67 70 69 67
274 Justin Rose (Eng) 68 66 71 69, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 73 66 68 67, Matt Kuchar69 71 67 67
275 Patrick Reed 69 65 69 72, Webb Simpson 66 67 72 70
276 Daniel Berger 66 70 72 68
277 Pat Perez 68 68 72 69
278 Jason Day (Aus) 69 67 68 74, Dustin Johnson 68 69 69 72
279 Gary Woodland 67 67 71 74
280 Kyle Stanley 64 73 70 73, Jason Dufner 68 67 73 72, Patrick Cantlay74 66 71 69
281 Adam Hadwin (Can) 71 67 73 70
283 Marc Leishman (Aus) 71 71 69 72, Brian Harman 72 70 71 70
286 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 75 68 73 70, Rickie Fowler 73 74 70 69
289 Charley Hoffman 73 73 71 72, Kevin Chappell 76 72 72 69
290 Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 72 74 70 74
Day three leaders
-12 Paul Casey
-10 Kevin Kisner, Xander Schauffele
-7 Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Justin Thomas
Scroll down for collated scores
Day three report & odds update
England's Paul Casey is Sky Bet's 11/10 favourite to win the Tour Championship after he stormed into a two-shot lead on day three at East Lake while he's now in pole position to land the FedEx Cup title and USD10million bonus.
Casey carded a superb third-round 65 e to finish 12 under par, two shots ahead of Americans Kevin Kisner (4/1) and Xander Schauffele (4/1) in the season-ending event.
Any of the 30 players in the field can theoretically win the massive pay day, but only the top five in the FedEx Cup standings were assured of doing so by claiming the USD1.53million first prize in Atlanta.
Open champion Jordan Spieth began the week with a 200-point lead over Justin Thomas, with world number one Dustin Johnson, Marc Leishman and Jon Rahm the other players in control of their own destiny.
Ranked 10th, Casey needed to win his first PGA Tour title since 2009 and for the top five to falter to claim the jackpot, a situation which initially looked unlikely, but moved a significant step closer on Saturday.
Playing partner Thomas is five shots behind after a 70, with Rahm a shot further back, Spieth and Johnson on four under and Leishman out of the picture on one over.
"My last round here last year was a 64 and I'd take a 64 tomorrow," Casey, who has yet to meet his baby daughter Astaria, told Sky Sports. "I want the win, I want my name on the trophy here at East Lake.
"The cool thing is that I'll be playing in the final group with Kisner and we've both just had children. My little girl was born on September 11 and his boy I think a couple of days prior to that.
"I won a week after Lex (his son) was born at the KLM Open so, although this tournament is the most important thing tomorrow, there are more important things away from the course."
Casey enjoyed a four-shot lead after a brilliant scoring burst on the front nine, the former Ryder Cup star carding birdies on the third and fifth, an eagle from 10 feet on the sixth and another birdie on the seventh after almost holing his approach.
That lead evaporated within 30 minutes as the 40-year-old failed to get up and down from greenside bunkers on the next two holes, while Kisner birdied the 13th and chipped in for another on the next.
However, a birdie on the 11th edged Casey back in front and another from 40 feet on the 17th extended his advantage ahead of what could be a hugely profitable final round.
Day two report & odds update
US PGA champion Justin Thomas moved into pole position to win the FedEx Cup title and USD10million (£7.4million) bonus after claiming a share of the halfway lead in the Tour Championship.
Any of the 30 players in the season-ending event can theoretically win the massive pay day, but only the top five in the standings are assured of doing so by claiming the USD1.53million (£1.1million) first prize in Atlanta.
Open champion Jordan Spieth began the week with a 200-point lead over Thomas, with world number one Dustin Johnson, Marc Leishman and Jon Rahm the other players in control of their own destiny.
But while Spieth could only manage a second round of 70 at East Lake to remain three under par, playing partner Thomas eagled the 18th in a 66 to share top spot on seven under with England's Paul Casey and Webb Simpson.
Thomas is now the 3/1 favourite with Sky Bet while Paul Casey is next in the running at 6/1 alongside Jon Rahm.
"It's nice to have everything in my own hands," said Thomas, who has already won five times this season, including a maiden major title at Quail Hollow.
"I felt like I was leaving a lot of shots out there. I was hitting some really good putts that weren't going in and it's easy to get frustrated, but I just tried to stay patient and calm and I was glad to be rewarded by that (eagle) on 18.
"I'm just trying to play the best I can and win a tournament. It's not like I'm trying to win the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup, that just comes with it.
"All I'm trying to do is pick apart the golf course and pick my spots and if I drove it like I did yesterday and for some of the holes today, you can really make a lot of birdies out here. Hopefully the putter can heat up and we can see if we can have some fun this weekend."
Simpson held a three-shot lead after five birdies in his first 11 holes, only to double bogey the 13th after hitting a tree with his attempted recovery shot following a wayward drive.
The former US Open champion still recorded a 67 which was matched by Casey, who has a record 15 top-five finishes in the last three years on the PGA Tour without recording a victory.
"I've had a very good season to this point but I'd like to turn mine into a great one and the way to do that would be with a victory this week," Casey told Sky Sports.
Olympic champion Justin Rose, who has twice been a runner-up at East Lake, was a shot off the lead alongside Rahm, Patrick Reed and Gary Woodland.
"This would be a great tournament to win," Rose said. "It's one of those other tournaments that separate themselves from regular events.
"You've go the best of the best here and as we've seen, guys who win this often do very well in the FedEx Cup and you're holding two trophies at the end of the week.
"I've got to focus just on this tournament and if the FedEx Cup goes my way then great, but some other guys have a say in that one. I need Jordan and Justin to finish outside the top three I think, but coming in number eight gave me a realistic chance."
Day one report & odds update
Sky Bet's 4/1 favourite Jordan Spieth remained on course to win a second FedEx Cup title and USD 10million bonus after the opening day of the Tour Championship.
Spieth recovered from a shaky start to card a three-under-par first round of 67 at East Lake, three shots behind Ben Coley's 125/1 tip Kyle Stanley.
Paul Casey was two shots off the pace alongside US Open champion Brooks Koepka, Webb Simpson and Daniel Berger, with Spieth's score matched by US PGA winner Justin Thomas and Spain's Jon Rahm.
Any of the 30 players in the season-ending event can theoretically win the massive pay day, but only the top five in the standings are assured of doing so by claiming the USD1.53million (£1.1million) first prize in Atlanta.
Open champion Spieth began the week with a 200-point lead over Thomas, with world number one Dustin Johnson, Marc Leishman and Rahm the other players in control of their own destiny.
The world number two was somewhat fortunate to be just one over par after five holes, but birdied the next three and picked up another shot on the 17th.
Playing partner Thomas carded six birdies and three bogeys to keep pace with his good friend, while Johnson recorded two birdies and 16 pars in a 69 matched by Olympic champion Justin Rose.
Stanley began the week 22nd in the standings and needs to win the Tour Championship and see other results go his way to claim the FedEx Cup title.
The 29-year-old carded seven birdies and one bogey in his 64 and told Sky Sports: "I'm very happy with it. It was nice to get off to something of a fast start and then make a few on the back nine.
"It's my first time here so we only played nine (holes) on Tuesday and nine on Wednesday and we were joking maybe that's not a bad thing. I love the golf course and I enjoyed the day."
Casey's chances of winning the FedEx Cup are slightly better after coming into the event in 10th place, the world number 16 finishing strongly with three birdies in his last four holes.
"I'm very happy," the 40-year-old said. "It's a golf course that doesn't yield a lot of birdies, it's tough and you have to strike the ball well and I did that today."
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