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Jordan Spieth takes Tour Championship

By Stan Awtrey, The Sports Xchange
American Jordan Spieth. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI
American Jordan Spieth. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo

ATLANTA -- Jordan Spieth ended the season in championship form.

Three weeks ago, Spieth didn't look anything like the guy who had dominated the PGA Tour for most of the year. He had missed the cut in the two FedEx Cup playoff events and lost his No. 1 world ranking.

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"I got mad," Spieth said.

And then he got even.

Spieth, 22, on Sunday, withstood some mid-round wobbles to shoot 1-under 69 on Sunday to win the Tour Championship at the East Lake Golf Club and become the youngest winner of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup.

"This is incredible," Spieth said. "This is an event where we approached it like a major championship. I didn't have a great playoff, but I put a lot into this week. Mentally I stayed in it, and boy, that putter sure paid off."

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After back-to-back bogeys left him tied with Henrik Stenson through six holes, Spieth regained his momentum at No. 8 by making birdies on three of the next four holes to take a two-shot lead he never relinquished.

Spieth, who earlier this year won the Masters and U.S. Open, parred the final seven holes and finished at 9-under 271, giving him a four-shot victory. He finished the week first in putting, first in scrambling and tied for third for total putts.

Spieth earned $1.485 million for the win, as well as the $10 million FedEx Cup bonus.

"It's been a phenomenal year for him," Stenson said. "I watched it first hand at the first two rounds at Augusta and he played phenomenal and putted phenomenal. It was the same putting display today -- just an exhibition on the greens to be honest."

Stenson, who started the day one shot behind Spieth, played unevenly all day. He birdied the final hole to shoot 72 and finish in a three-way tie for second at 5-under. Danny Lee shot 65 and Justin Rose shot 66 to join him in second place.

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Dustin Johnson, who had the day's low round of 64, finished at 4-under and tied for fourth with Bubba Watson, who shot 67, and Paul Casey, who shot 70.

FedEx Cup points leader and No. 1-ranked Jason Day shot 68 and tied for 10th. Day finished third on the final FedEx Cup standings, one spot behind Stenson.

"I could have played better this week," Day said. "But it just seems like Jordan is kind of zoned in and grinding for that win."

Spieth's win was the sixth of his career and fifth of the season, making him the sixth player since 1980 to win five or more times during the same season. It also means Spieth will return to No. 1 in the World Golf Ranking and set a new record for earnings in one season with $12,030,465.

He stretched his lead to two shots with a birdie at No. 2, where his tee shot at the 219-yard hole finished 10 feet from the hole. He made the putt to get his second birdie of the week there.

Spieth gave a shot back at his least favorite hole on the course, the 530-yard par 4 fifth. He left his second shot 80 feet from the green in the right rough and cut the distance in half with his third shot. Spieth chipped his fourth shot to within a couple of feet and he settled for bogey.

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Spieth then bogeyed the par-3 sixth for the second straight day. On Sunday, he three-putted from 48 feet, which dropped him back into a tie with Stenson at 7-under.

There was a two-shot swing at No. 8, where Spieth took a birdie and Stenson made a bogey. Both made birdies on No. 11 -- Spieth from 47 feet -- and bogeys on No. 12, leaving Spieth ahead by two shots.

Even when Spieth made a mistake, like he did by missing the green at No. 15 and leaving himself an awkward lie at No. 16, he was able to use his putting magic to save par.

"Scoring-wise I didn't quite get it going today and Jordan was putting unbelievably," Stenson said. "Whenever he had to make a putt, he did it. He's hard to beat on the greens, we know that, and I just couldn't keep pace with him today."

NOTES: Jimmy Walker and Harris English should have been playing as a team Sunday. Paired today for the final round, Walker shot a 66 and English shot a 67. They began the day tied for 23rd, with Walker moving into a tie for 18th and English moving into a tie for 22nd. ... Last week, Bill Haas was selected as a captains pick for the Presidents Cup team by his father, Jay Haas. This week he finished 26th at the Tour Championship and shot a 6-over 76 on Sunday. ... Spieth became the first player to win the Masters and the Tour Championship in the same season. ... Spieth's win is the 24th by a player in their 20s on the PGA Tour this season, the most since the previous record of 23 was set in 1974.

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