So that’s that. What a year of golf it’s been. It’s all about Jordan Spieth, of course: the Masters, US Open and FedEx Cup champion. With special mention to Jason Day as well. What a pair of players! And just think, 2016 is going to be frightening if Rory McIlroy gets his mojo back. But we can’t go a whole live golf blog without a reader email, so just in time, here’s Simon McMahon: “Been a great year. What with the emergence of Spieth as a genuine superstar, and the potential for a rivalry for the ages with McIlroy, Day finally making a major breakthrough, DJ and Bubba doing their thing, rookie of the year Berger, the amateurs at the Open, Fowler, Rose, Reed all winning, not forgetting Lowry at the Bridgestone, it’s been a blast. It’s not all about titles and prize money though, is it? We need the journeymen too. But if you could see to it that a certain Spaniard wins at least one major next year, that’d be great. Ta.” OK, sounds like a plan to me! Everyone on for Augusta National, here, next April? Great stuff. See you all then, and thanks so much for reading our hole-by-hole reports.
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That’s a sensational victory by Spieth. It was a match-play battering in stroke-play form, Spieth hitting Stenson with those sucker-punch birdie putts at 9 and 11, and an astonishingly delicate greenside chip when in bother at 15. The winner’s getting his two trophies now: first the crystal Tour Championship prize, and then the silver FedEx Cup. Plus of course a few pennies. “Thank you. This is incredible. We approach this like a major championship. Mentally we stayed in it, even if I didn’t have my best ball striking, and boy that putter sure paid off!” And then he’s asked how he achieved yet another famous victory. “I got frustrated. I missed two cuts in a row, which I’d never done before. I lost the number one ranking. I was watching Jason Day just dominate golf. And I was frustrated. So I got to work!” All of which speaks volumes. As does his fulsome praise for Stenson, who he describes as a great friend, and thanks him for the fist-bump he gave him after that putt on 11.
So here’s how the Tour Championship finished ...
-9: Spieth
-5: Lee, Rose, Stenson
-4: D Johnson, Watson, Casey
-3: Holmes, Z Johnson
-2: Kuchar, Day
E: Bowditch, Matsuyama, Berger, Fowler
+1: Na, McIlroy
+4: Streb, Walker, Bae, Koepka
+5: English, Snedeker, Hoffman
+10: Piercy
+13: Haas
+14: Reed
+18: Kisner
... and these are the final 2014/15 FedEx Cup standings:
1. Spieth
2. Stenson
3. Day
4. Fowler
5. Watson
6. Z Johnson
7. D Johnson
8. Rose
9. Lee
10. Hoffman
JORDAN SPIETH IS THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER ... AND THE $10m FEDEX CUP WINNER! He hits an awful putt from 40 feet, the ball staying miles left of the hole. But he’s not the type to finish without a flourish, and rattles in the ten-foot par saver! He signs for a 69, and once he’s shaken the defeated Stenson’s hand warmly, gives his little sister a cuddle. Then his mum and dad. A very proud family. And you sense this highly impressive and modest young man is equally proud of them. It’s part of his charm. That, and being the best golfer in the world, of course. What a star.
The beauty of golf, right here! Henrik Stenson, ground into the dirt on 17, shanking into the crowd, has just raked in a 70-footer from the back of the green for a closing birdie! Stenson can’t even manage a wry smile, but he will do later on once the pain has subsided. That’s wonderful to see, after the indignities he’s suffered on the rest of the back nine. A birdie that’ll give him a share of second place!
Spieth finds the heart of 18. Then the rain starts coming down on Stenson’s sorry head. No more indignities, please! Hasn’t the poor man suffered enough. His tee shot isn’t all that, but finds the green. Just. He looks disgusted with his effort. That opening-day 63 seems an awfully long time ago now. The players make their way to the green. The gallery goes daft for Jordan Spieth, this young sensation, the new Nicklaus, the best golfer in the world. He’s not going to stop, is he.
Spieth races his putt, from 25 feet, six or seven feet past the hole. Let’s say seven, because it’s still his turn. He rolls the par putt into the heart of the cup, and a huge smile spreads across his face. He knows the job’s done. Stenson pushes his bogey putt wide right of the hole. He’s been a complete mess since 11. An utter shambles. A golfing nervous breakdown.
-9: Spieth (17)
-5: Lee (F), Rose (F)
-4: D Johnson (F), Watson (F), Casey (F), Stenson (17)
Stenson bumps a can’t-be-bothered chip from high on the right of 17 and onto the green. His long putt trickles a good six feet past the hole. Up on 18, it’s a miserable finish for Rickie Fowler, who bogeyed 16, doubled 17, and missed a birdie chance on the last. A 74, and he ends up at level par. His partner Casey pars and seems pretty pleased with his 70, guaranteed a top-five finish at -4.
Stenson’s misery is complete. Spieth finds the front of 17 with his second. Stenson has no option but to get aggressive - but in going for broke, shanks the ball into the crowd down the right. That’s right out of the hosel. He’s a broken man. That putt of Spieth’s on 11 stole the sun from his heart!
This is almost certainly all over now, because Spieth has avoided the water down the left of 17 with his tee shot. Stenson follows him down the fairway. Up on the green, having been a bit wild with his drive, Casey can’t make par. He’s back to -4. And on 18, McIlroy nearly guides a ten-footer into the hole for birdie, but it’s a par, and he signs for a dismal 74. He finishes at +1, and will be singing Auld Lang Syne with added gusto come the end of December.
Spieth finds the bunker front right of 16. A chance for Stenson to put a little pressure on, but he doesn’t take it, sending his second shot in the same direction. It doesn’t quite make the bunker, snagging in the long grass. He chips to five feet. Spieth can only splash out to ten, but once again sinks a putt that’ll hurt his partner. Stenson makes his par, but would have been hoping to close in on Spieth there. Nope! Meanwhile Bubba Watson finishes his season with par at the last, and signs for a 67. He’ll end the week at -4.
Rory McIlroy had been going nicely on the way back, with birdies at 12 and 16 bringing him back to -2. But he’s just pulled a short iron from the centre of the fairway at 17 into the drink down the left! A triple-bogey 7, the result of some half-arsed chipping up the waterbank, and he’s +1. That just about sums up his 2015. His playing partner Zach Johnson had flayed his tee shot into the drink, but scrambles a bogey. He’s -3. Coming up behind, it’s Paul Casey, who nearly follows Justin Rose into the drinker on the right. With the season nearly over, a few of these lads are getting demob happy now.
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Spieth’s third into 15 finds deep rough at the back of the green. He’s struggling to make par here. Stenson meanwhile has found the bunker to the left of the green. Shortsided, he does well to get his ball to 30 feet. His birdie putt stops one dimple short, and he remains at -6. A rueful smile. Especially as Spieth didn’t have any green to work with either, but somehow manufactured a delicate flop from thick grass to eight feet, before knocking in the par saver. That chip was out of this world! He’s like no other, this young man. And the gap is still three strokes, with holes are now running out if Stenson is to stop Spieth.
-9: Spieth (15)
-6: Stenson (15)
-5: Lee (F), Rose (F), Casey (16)
Casey wings his drive at 16 into trouble down the left. He ends up wedging four into the green, but works it to a couple of feet and drops just the one. He’s back to -5. On 18, Rose chips up to five feet, and knocks in the par putt. Great to see him finish with a par: his 66 sees him tied for the clubhouse lead at -5 with Danny Lee. A fine, nearly brilliant, performance.
Rose needs one more club at 18. His tee shot is short of the green. Just short: symbolic of his chances, then, which were in truth scuppered after that OB drive at 10, though to his immense credit he refused to buckle. Three bounce-back birdies showed amazing character, even if it’s all coming undone again on the final holes. Henrik Stenson take note: he’s just pulled his approach into trouble down the left of 15 from the centre of the fairway. And he still looks thoroughly unhappy and frustrated, his shoulders slumped. He really needs to get both shoulders and chin up, because Spieth drove into thick rough down the left of the hole and has been forced to take his medicine and chip out.
Spieth very nearly drains his 40-footer on 14 for another remarkable birdie. But it stops on the left lip and that’s a par. Good enough. Stenson finally regroups mentally, and nearly chips in from down the back. Par. Still a three-shot gap, but this might not be over quite yet. Bubba sees a 12-foot birdie effort on 16 slide by the hole. He’ll stay at -4. Rose misses his par putt on 17, squirting it off to the right. He’s back down to -5, passed by Casey who converts his birdie chance at 15 to move into a share of second.
-9: Spieth (14)
-6: Casey (15), Stenson (14)
-5: Lee (F), Rose (17)
Paul Casey is certainly on a roll. His third into the par-five 15th is a stunning wedge which does a little handbrake turn a couple of feet from the hole. He’ll have a tap-in for a third birdie in a row, and will move to -6. Rose meanwhile clips a wedge at 17 to five feet, and will have a great chance to save his par. Meanwhile Danny Lee nearly rolls in a 40-foot birdie effort from the back of 18. A par will have to do, though, and he’s signing for a wondrous final-day 65. He ends the championship at -5.
Rose gets a free drop from the boozer down the right of 17. His ball snags in knotted nonsense, so he can only lay up with a whipped iron. Back on 14, Spieth pulls his tee shot into the trees down the left. He might have got a friendly break off a couple of punters, though, as his ball dropped from the trees. To be fair, this brilliant young man has earned all the luck he gets. That putt on 11 was one of the most sensational birdies you’re likely to see, effectively a match-play haymaker. He slaps his iron from the rough into the heart of the green. Stenson, from the middle of the fairway, steps away from his ball, the old Monty-style rabbit ears hearing something in the gallery. He shoots the crowd daggers, then whistles his second through the back of the green and down the back at the back. His head’s gone.
Pars for Spieth and Stenson on 13. Stenson still has a face on. He’s still three behind his playing partner. He needs to pick himself up and quickly. Things can change in the blink of an eye. Up on 18, Jason Day signs for a 68. Not quite enough to win the FedEx Cup, then, but what a season he’s had: five wins on Tour, including that famous victory at the PGA. The crowd give this popular Australian a huge ovation. He smiles warmly, despite hobbling around with a bad back.
Another birdie for Paul Casey, who sends his second at 114 straight at the flag, ten feet below, and rolls in the putt. He’s -5, and will be ruing that nonsense in the mud at the back of 5. More trouble off the tee for Rose, currently tied for second at -6, who wings his drive at 17 into the hospitality stand down the right of the hole. He really didn’t want to dice with the water down the left.
Stenson is the picture of defeat. His tee shot at 13 finds the fairway, but he didn’t connect properly and wanders off biting his lip, his limbs flopping around all over the place, swinging his club around in frustration. He’s mentally gone right now, and making no attempt to hide it. You can hardly blame him, after the way Spieth worked him over back on 11. Spieth finds the semi-rough down the right, and seems happy enough with that. Elsewhere, Bubba Watson makes back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15, and suddenly he’s -4. Casey birdies 13 to move to -4 too.
That putt of Spieth’s. Oh me oh my. It looks like the killer blow, because Stenson has that thousand-yard stare going on. From the middle of 12, he’s slamdunked his wedge into the bunker, and not gone particularly close with the splash out. He pushes his putt wide right, and that’s a shot gone. Spieth meanwhile wedges to 15 feet, and pushes his right too. The difference is, Spieth was putting for birdie, not par. The Tour Championship, and the FedEx Cup, are now Jordan Spieth’s to lose.
-9: Spieth (12)
-6: Rose (15), Stenson (12)
-5: Lee (16)
Matt Kuchar is on quite a roll. Birdies at 11, 13, 14 and 15, and he’s suddenly -3 for the tournament through 16 holes. Rose meanwhile on the par-five 15th creams a 3-wood straight at the flag. He’s left with a 12-footer for eagle. He can’t make the putt, and the resulting birdie will probably not suffice. Because there are astonishing scenes back on 11. Spieth’s tee shot is bang average, on the green but 50 feet shy of the flag. Stenson smacks his tee shot to three feet. But Spieth really is made of the special stuff. He rolls a huge left-to-right breaker up and over a ridge, and into the cup! The moment that wins the tournament? Perhaps. Stenson manages a wry half-smile, despite taking that hammer blow in the guts. Under the circumstances, he does rather well to convert his own birdie, but wow! What a putt! Spieth is phenomenal!
-9: Spieth (11)
-7: Stenson (11)
-6: Rose (15)
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A brilliant wedge into 10 by Stenson, pin high to eight feet. A fine chance to scramble his par, but his putt horseshoes out. It was a poor effort, never going in, but he has the chutzpah to look genuinely affronted. Spieth however lets him off the hook. His little chip from the side of the green is left a good six feet short, and he leaves the putt up on the high side. It’s hard to know whose bogey was more hapless: Stenson’s bookended by poor strokes, Spieth’s made from the centre of the fairway. Meanwhile Lee, who had birdied 12 and then dropped a stroke at 13, registers back to back birdies at 14 and now 15. This leaderboard is looking rather interesting now:
-8: Spieth (10)
-6: Stenson (10)
-5: Lee (15), Rose (14)
-4: D Johnson (F), Z Johnson (12)
Dustin signs for a 64. He had a chance for birdie at the last, pin high with a fairly straight 30-footer across the green. But he leaves it short. He doesn’t look particularly happy, another season gone without one of the big prizes he desperately desires. But he’s ended the campaign well, and ends the tournament at -4. He’s the clubhouse leader.
Stenson manages to lash the ball out of the thick stuff, to within 50 yards of the green. From where he was, that’s a decent result. But he needs more than this, because look at this stat: he’s played the front nine in a cumulative score of -7 this week. The back nine: level par. Spieth, meanwhile, is -5 coming back. Well, that’s going to need to change if he’s to win the big prizes on offer here. Spieth offers him a little hope by slamdunking his second into the rough to the right of the green. He’s not too far from the hole, though, so an up and down isn’t exactly a pipe dream.
Stenson’s been spooked a little by the events on 9. A wide fairway at 10, and he pulls his 3-wood into thick nonsense down the left. He might get a free relief from a nearby drain cover, but you can’t be relying on fortune like that when you’re playing for ten million bucks. Spieth, naturally, finds the fairway. He’s a superstar. Meanwhile 2014’s Rory McIlroy pings his second at 12 to four feet, and knocks in a birdie putt. He’s back to -1. His partner Zach Johnson birdies the hole too, and moves to -4. He’s wonderfully steady, is Zach Johnson. Which may not be that sexy, but he knows how to get the job done. His painstaking journey back down the 18th at St Andrews, giving high fives to every single punter who wanted one, was one of the great moments of the sporting year. He left nobody hanging. David Puddy would have been proud.
Spieth knocks in his birdie putt! A quite brilliant effort caressed in from 15 feet, a gentle left to right break, always dropping from the second it left his putter! He’s out in 34, and Stenson must wonder what he has to do. He’s played this hole perfectly for his birdie - he taps in to convert - while Spieth was all over the shop. But the result’s the same. Spieth really is a force of nature. Speaking of which, there’s been another birdie for Dustin Johnson, this time at 17. That’s five on the back nine, and seven in ten holes! He’s -4. He is box office. In a different way to young Jordan, but it takes all kinds.
-9: Spieth (9)
-7: Stenson (9)
-5: Rose (13)
-4: D Johnson (17), Lee (14), Holmes (12)
Spieth and Stenson both find the middle of the 9th fairway with their tee shots. Stenson lays up. Spieth’s second is pushed off to the right, slightly behind a tree. No matter, he whips a wedge over it to 15 feet. He’ll have a look at birdie from there. Stenson meanwhile wedges to a couple of feet. He’s never played the front nine of this course without making birdie. He hasn’t made one yet today, but he’ll keep that record going now. Meanwhile you’ve got to hand it to Justin Rose, who isn’t giving this up despite the double-bogey horror of 10. He’s just followed up his birdie at 12 with another at 13, a 50-footer curled in from the back of the green, right to left, and he’s -5 again! He clenches his fist in determination. He’s still in with a shout.
Fowler needs to do something quickly if he wants to win this tournament and the FedEx Cup. His second into the par-five 9th, a driver off the deck, is hooked well left of the green. He chips to eight feet, but can’t knock in the birdie effort. He stays at -3. His partner Casey makes birdie and he’s -3 too. Rose curls in a left-to-right swinger from 15 feet on 12 to move back to -4. Holmes - who had bogeyed 10 - slides in a gentle right-to-left breaker on 11 for a birdie that takes him to -4 too. And then some crucial action at the 8th green. Stenson splashes from the sand to eight feet. Spieth then guides in a lovely left-to-right slider from 20 feet for a birdie. And the pressure causes Stenson to crumble, as he prods with great uncertainty at his par putt. Bogey, and a two-shot gap opens up at the top again!
-8: Spieth (8)
-6: Stenson (8)
-4: Rose (12), Lee (12), Holmes (11)
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Stenson’s tee shot at 8 finds the rough down the right. In fact he’s just behind a tree. So he squirts the ball out and deliberately flies it into the bunker at the front. Guaranteed control from there. Spieth has an opportunity to apply a bit of pressure, but from the middle of the fairway can only get his ball to within 20 feet. A chance for birdie, but not the sort he was after.
Another birdie for Danny Lee! He gets back the shot he dropped at 10 by rattling in a 30-footer with a big left-to-right swing from the back of 12. He’s -4, in a tie for third! Meanwhile up on 18, Robert Streb misses a short par putt, a slightly sad end to an otherwise superlative final round of 65. He ends the tournament at +4, and must wish he’d hit his weekend form a couple of days earlier: a pair of 75s followed by 69 and now this. A very promising player ends the season with a flourish.
Spieth and Stenson find the 7th in regulation, but their balls aren’t in birdie territory. Two long putts lagged up, and that’s a pair of pars. Meanwhile another birdie for Dustin Johnson, this time at the par-five 15th. This is a quite amazing run of six birdies in eight holes! And he’s tied for fourth! What a player, what a man. It is impossible not to love him.
-7: Spieth (7), Stenson (7)
-4: Holmes (9)
-3: D Johnson (15), Lee (11), Rose (10), Z Johnson (8), Fowler (8)
Kevin Kisner is in the clubhouse with a 73. At +18, he’s almost certainly going to be propping up the leaderboard, unless Bill Hass, at +14 with three to play, does something very daft. So it’s nice that he’ll go away with a slight spring in his step, having birdied 16 and 17. Golf has a habit of taking an awful lot away, so it’s nice when it gives a little something back.
Poor old Justin Rose. He responds magnificently to the body blow of hoicking his tee shot at 10 out of bounds, creaming his second ball down the middle of the fairway, then zinging his approach pin high to 20 feet. He’s got a chance to escape with a bogey, and looks to have hit a wonderful putt, but it dies off left at the very last turn, shaving the lip and staying out. A double, and the jig is up. He’s back to -3. Holmes meanwhile pars 9 to reach the turn in 33. All of a sudden, he’s got third place to himself at -4, three off the lead set by Spieth and Stenson.
Casey knocks his third at 7 to six feet, and rattles in the par putt. What a magnificent save after the big hook off the tee. He remains at -2. Meanwhile McIlroy is long with his approach at 8. Then he fluffs his chip. His next one is bumped up to a couple of feet, but that’s four bogeys in five holes. The end of the 2015 season can’t come soon enough for McIlroy. This is awkward to watch, though you sense he might have given up on this. He’s not exactly taking his time between shots. Fair enough, he doesn’t exactly need the money.
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Spieth sends a 45-foot putt scampering hysterically towards the hole. He’s lucky the left-hand lip got in the way, taking plenty of the pace from the ball. It stops six feet behind the hole. But he doesn’t make the one coming back. He had gone 86 consecutive holes without a three-putt, but that brave record has gone down the swanny. Stenson, from similar distance, takes his two putts for par and is now tied for the lead. Bogey for Lee at 10, meanwhile. Where he leads, Rose looks like following.
-7: Spieth (6), Stenson (6)
-5: Rose (9)
-4: Holmes (8)
Spieth and Stenson both find the 6th green with their tee shots, but neither are particularly close to the hole. Casey’s woes continue, hooking his tee shot on 7 into all manner of oomska down the left. He’s plugged in the stuff, forced to take his medicine and punch the ball back out onto the fairway. English hopes are now with Justin Rose ... and with perfect timing, he hooks a 3-wood from the 10th tee onto the road down the left. That’s out of bounds, and it’s all over for our Hampshire hero. And him just out in 31 strokes too! That’s golf, ladies and gentlemen.
Rose blooters a stunning 3-wood into the heart of the par-five 9th. The ball rather unfairly considers toppling off the back, but just about hangs on in the fringe. No matter! He rolls a left-to-right sharp-angled monster of an eagle putt to 18 inches, and taps in for his fourth birdie of the day. He matches Danny Lee’s front nine of 31, and at -5 he’s right in this now!
-8: Spieth (5)
-7: Stenson (5)
-5: Rose (9)
Spieth attempts a Mickelson-style flop from the bank to the right of 5. Nope. He gets under the ball and doesn’t reach the green. He’s still in the fringe. Stenson clips his wedge straight at the flag. It’s going 20 feet past, but clatters into the flag and stops six feet behind the hole. A real chance to save his par now. Spieth very nearly bumps his chip into the hole, but that’s only his third bogey of the week. He’s back to -8. And there’s only one in it now, because Stenson slots his short par saver away. Another birdie for JB Holmes, meanwhile, up on 8. He’s -4.
-8: Spieth (5)
-7: Stenson (5)
-4: Lee (9), Rose (8), Holmes (8)
-3: Z Johnson (7), Fowler (6)
Yes, 2015 is not McIlroy’s year. He can only chip to eight feet from the back of 6, then pushes an appalling putt miles wide right. A third bogey in a row, and that fast start seems a very long time ago now. He’s -1, and not looking particularly happy. He’s not attained the level of funk just achieved by Casey, though. He chunks a second chip in a row, and though this makes the green, he’s still got 25 feet to cover for his bogey. That doesn’t drop, and his run of pars is broken by a double bogey. He’s back to -2. But everyone’s struggling right now, and from the middle of 5, both Spieth and Stenson push their long second shots to the right of the green, leaving themselves shortsided with downhill chips from thick rough. Only Danny Lee is trundling along nicely: he rolls in an eight-foot par saver on 9, and he reaches the turn in an exceptional 31 strokes.
-9: Spieth (4)
-7: Stenson (4)
-4: Lee (9), Rose (8)
-3: Holmes (7), Z Johnson (6), Fowler (5)
It’s been pars all the way for Paul Casey. Maybe not for much longer. From the centre of the long par-four 5th, he zips his second straight through the green and down a very soggy bank at the back. And he fluffs his chip from the mudbath. He’s still in there. A birdie for Bubba on 7, and he’s back to -2. His partner JB Holmes, who had followed up his aforementioned opening-hole birdie with a bogey on 2, earns his shot back with a chip-in from the fringe. He’s -3 again.
Four in a row for Dustin! He chips in from the back of 11, and he’s -2. No celebration. It’s the full Jason Dufner. Another birdie for Danny Lee, who curls in a left-to-right putt from 20 foot on 8. He’s -4 for his round, and for the tournament. Up on 6, McIlroy continues to struggle, his tee shot long and left. Back on 4, Spieth leaves his approach short of the green, but very nearly clips the chip into the cup. He saves his par. Stenson, on the green in regulation, cards another par.
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McIlroy, from thick stuff high to the right of 5, sends a Mickelsonian lob to eight feet. That’s as good a result as he could have expected from where he was, having had little green to play with. But he’s left with a tester for his par. He can’t make it. He’s back to -2. Bye bye Rory. Meanwhile news of your pal and mine, the wonderfully entertaining Dustin Johnson. The big man should have won the US Open this year, but didn’t. (See also 2010.) He’s not going to win this either, but he appears to be in the mood to go out with a bang. Three birdies on the bounce, 8, 9 and 10, and he’s up to -1 for the tournament. The last one came as a result of a 50-footer raked across the 10th. If the hole hadn’t got in the way, he’d have been somewhere in South Carolina. So he now just needs to card a quadruple bogey at some point this afternoon, and we can all go home having got our money’s worth.
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Spieth and Stenson are both in the centre of the 3rd green, 15 feet or so from the flag. Stenson is up first, and his birdie chance curls away to the right. He’s not quite giving his putts enough oomph. He’s given Spieth a read, as well. And for a second it looks like another birdie for the Masters and US Open champion, but the ball turns right at the very death. There’s still a two-shot gap at the top. Stenson may feel he’s got away with one there. Meanwhile up on 5, Rory is hitting a fairway wood off the top of a once grassy knoll, now a mudhill. He clips it miles to the right of the green. This is getting away from the world number two right now. 2015 hasn’t been his year.
Fowler, hitting a sand wedge 100 yards into 3, finds a bunker at the front. That’s ludicrous. And he’ll pay, splashing miles past the pin off a hard, wet lie. He very nearly saves himself by rolling in a 25-foot left-to-right breaker, but that’ll be a costly bogey. Casey gets up and down from the fringe for par. Rose converts his birdie. And McIlroy makes a royal balls of 4. He fails to reach the green in two, then chunks his third. Still not on the putting surface. He gets up and down, but that’s a bogey, and he’s out of this now you’d think - especially as he’s just flayed his drive at 5 into thick nonsense down the left. His playing partner Johnson birdied 4. Lee, meanwhile, rolls in a very missable 20-footer on 7 to save his par, and keep hold of that precious momentum.
-9: Spieth (2)
-7: Stenson (2)
-4: Rose (6), Casey (3)
-3: Lee (7), McIlroy (4), Z Johnson (4), Fowler (3)
Stenson hits his downhill birdie effort at 2 rather apologetically. He’ll have to make do with par. No problem for Spieth, though, who clacks his putt straight into the cup. Suddenly he’s got a two-shot lead. Up on 6, Rose, who was a turn away from raking in a 40-footer for birdie on 5, sets himself up another chance on 6 with a stupendous 5-iron to three feet.
-9: Spieth (2)
-7: Stenson (2)
Another birdie for Danny Lee, this time at 6, a left-to-right curler from 30 feet. He’s -3 now. Spieth caresses a stunning 4-iron straight at the flag on 2. Stenson follows that magical shot by firing his tee shot straight over the pin, spinning the ball back towards the hole, leaving a ten-footer for his birdie. Spieth perhaps a foot or two inside, coming across the green along a straighter path. Meanwhile trouble off the tee for both Casey and McIlroy. Casey hoicks an awful tee shot miles left of 3, while McIlroy finds a bunker down the left of 4.
McIlroy’s putt across 3 is fairly dismal. He leaves it short and right. Par. A similar mistake from similar distance by Fowler on 2. So much for all that pre-round chat of “aggressive” golf. He pars the hole, as does Casey. Back on 1, Spieth and Stenson both get the putter out from off the front of the green. Stenson leaves his five feet short. A real tester here. He strokes it in though. Spieth isn’t far from draining his, but it stops just short. Pars.
Neither Spieth nor Stenson find the green with their second shots at 1. Stenson’s failure there was inexplicable really, from 116 yards out in the centre of the fairway. Spieth can at least claim mitigation, having hit a dreadful tee shot down the left. Speaking of such shots, that’s exactly what McIlroy’s done at 3, finding sand, though he’s clipped his second pin high. It’ll be a 25-footer across the green for birdie, but avoiding bogey was the thing after that tee shot. Meanwhile Day guides in a 25-foot left-to-right slider on 6, breaking a run of pars. He’s -1.
Casey and Fowler find the opening green in regulation, but that’s about the best you can say for it. Neither make lengthy birdie putts, and remain at -4. And all of this means that, back on the tee, the final pairing are out! Stenson splits the fairway, but Spieth sends his tee shot off down the left, into fairly thick, boggy rough. Elsewhere, it’s another birdie for Rose, this time at 4, after another delightful approach. Pin high, to 12 feet, and a putt never missing. He’s -3, and making a move. An eventful start for Hideki Matsuyama, who birdies 1, bogeys 2, and now picks up that shot again at 4. He’s -1 overall. And it’s been equally eventful for Bubba. When is it ever not? Bogey at 2, and now birdie at 3. He’s -1 again.
Johnson and McIlroy splash out of the bunker at 2 to ten feet. Zach can’t make his putt, the ball always dying off to the left. But Rory can. He gives his par saver a rare old rattle, and it’s always going to be swallowed by the hole. He stays at -4, and walks off the green with the air of a man who knows he’s dodged a bullet there. He can’t afford any silly bogeys. Johnson’s back down at -2, and already looking too far behind. The margins are so slim now.
So much for McIlroy’s fast start. He pulls his tee shot at 2 into a bunker to the left of the green. He’ll not have a lot of space to work with there. Zach Johnson follows him in. Neither ball plugs in the wet sand, though, and they’re both on the upslope, so at least they have a chance to scramble their pars. Meanwhile a birdie for Justin Rose at 3, after a stunning second from 100 yards to a couple of feet. He’s -2.
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McIlroy is out. And he’ll be making birdie at 1, having split the fairway with his tee shot and landed his approach ten feet past the flag, spinning it back to a couple of inches. A gorgeous shot, and a statement of intent. He’ll be up to -4. His playing partner, and the man who made off with his Open Championship title in his absence at St Andrews back in July, is Zach Johnson. A decent second into the heart of the green, but he can’t roll in the downhill 12-footer he leaves himself. Par. But McIlroy’s fast start will have given those above him on the leaderboard, and coming behind on the course, a little pause for thought.
-8: Spieth
-7: Stenson
-4: McIlroy (1), Fowler, Casey
-3: Holmes (1), Z Johnson (1)
An opening-hole birdie for JB Holmes, and he’s up to -3 immediately. You never know, you never know. In terms of the Tour Championship anyway: he’d need Spieth, Fowler, Stenson and Watson all to suffer breakdowns today if he wanted to make off with the FedEx Cup as well. He’ll be relying on three of those players being out in uncharted waters: apart from Stenson, none of the folk in the mix today have won the FedEx Cup. Here’s the roll of honour, which, the early years apart, has a sub-major feel to it:
2007: Tiger Woods
2008: Vijay Singh
2009: Tiger Woods
2010: Jim Furyk
2011: Bill Haas
2012: Brandt Snedeker
2013: Henrik Stenson
2014: Billy Horschel
In those FedEx Cup years, only two players have won the Tour Championship and failed to take receipt of the accompanying multi-million-dollar delivery. Camilo Villegas in 2008 and Phil Mickelson in 2009 are the unlucky winners there.
2015 has been the breakthrough year for the young New Zealander Danny Lee. He won his first PGA Tour event at the Greenbrier Classic, and he’s looking for a strong finish here. Birdies at 1 and 2, and he’s -2 for the tournament now. No birdie for Day at 2. Or indeed at 3, despite sending his second to 12 feet. He remains at level par for the tournament. All done.
There’s a slightly strange atmosphere at East Lake. Only 28 competitors, well under half the size of a usual Sunday field. And only a small number of those with a chance of winning this $10m FedEx purse. So although most of the players are out and about now - and the world number one Day has just creamed his tee shot at 2 pin high to 12 feet - there’s a sense that we’re all killing time a bit until the final three groups come out. Rory and Zach. Casey and Fowler. And then Spieth and Stenson. It won’t be long now. Tum te tum. Here, it was only relatively recently that the arrow within the FedEx logo showed itself to me. I can’t work out whether that’s brilliant or appalling design. A bit too subtle? Or perhaps it’s always been obvious to absolutely everyone else on the planet, and I’m even slower than I already suspected. That is a very strong possibility.
The conditions are pretty muddy, but there’s no preferred lies, no lift, clean and place rule. That only happens for standing water on the PGA Tour; players have to deal with mud balls. The world number one Jason Day is out, in a mud-friendly pair of white breeks. He splits the fairway with a 3-wood, then eases his approach to ten feet. A fairly straight putt coming back down for birdie, but it squeaks past the right-hand side of the cup. He didn’t quite hit that with enough conviction, it was never holding its line. And already you suspect his super-slim chances of winning this tournament, and the FedEx Cup, are over. Starting eight behind, he had been talking about a course-ripping front nine of 30 strokes, to put a little pressure on the leaders. For things like that to happen, you need everything to drop. Five victories on the PGA Tour this season for Day, including that breakthrough win at the PGA. It almost certainly won’t be six. To have such worries, huh?
Rickie Fowler’s game plan: to “be aggressive, make some birdies, and hopefully scare the boys a bit”. Four shots off Spieth’s lead, and with a very real chance of winning the FedEx Cup if he pulls it off today, that tactic certainly makes plenty of sense. What he’d pay for Jimmy Walker’s start. He’d certainly need to avoid the one made today by the man he pipped to this year’s Players Championship. Kevin Kisner opened his round with three bogeys in a row. After rounds of 76, 77 and 72, his miserable week continues. He’s currently +18, 28th out of 28, four shots worse off than Patrick Reed and eight behind Bill Haas.
A fast start for Jimmy Walker, who has birdied the opening three holes. Up and down from behind a tree down the left of 1; a 30-footer raked in at 2; an approach at 3 spun to eight feet. From way down the leaderboard he’s now risen to +5. No chance of winning anything today, of course, but with a huge prize fund for the FedEx Cup, every place on the leaderboard is worth a fair few quid.
The two leaders both seem in fine fettle ahead of their toe-to-toe slugfest. Jordan Spieth admits his ball striking is “not there at all”, but his short game - specifically his bunker play and his putting - is back up there to the level of this year’s majors. His record in those again, should anyone need reminding: 1, 1, T4, 2. Astonishing. He’s unquestionably been the number-one golfer this year, which is saying something given the way Jason Day’s been playing, but he’s probably been the most impressive star in All Sports too. Anyone better? No, nobody better. As for Henrik Stenson, he’s his usual deadpan self. Walking into the clubhouse earlier, he smiled at the camera trained on his every step and announced that “now I know what the monkey feels like at the zoo”. He’s quite happy to “still be in the game” despite yesterday’s miserable 72, circumspection his watchword. It couldn’t be poised much better, this. An afternoon rich with promise.
The weather: A chance of a little rain, perhaps, though even if it comes it’ll be nothing like the previous days. Waterproofs off. The course itself is still wet and heavy, though, and the wind’s up, so it’ll be quite the test at East Lake nonetheless. The two lads out in front will still have to win this tournament. And there are plenty of folk in the pack waiting for any slip-ups. The FedEx Cup is another matter, though, with Spieth, Stenson and Fowler the trio most likely.
The dramatic denouement of the 2015 PGA Tour is upon us. We know it’s that time, because they’re already advertising the start of the 2016 PGA Tour in all the magazines, with a picture of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods comin’ atcha like Premier League footballers. Hey, gotta keep movin’!
But let’s wrap this one up first. At the halfway stage of the season’s final tournament, the Tour Championship at the East Lake course in Atlanta, the conclusion of the race for the FedEx Cup was threatening to become something of a damp squib. And not just because of the rain. Henrik Stenson - who won this tournament and with it the FedEx Cup in 2013 - was three clear of the field and looking good.
However he came back in 37 strokes yesterday, while Jordan Spieth sunk a 20-footer on the last for a 68, and now the leaderboard after the third round looks like this ... and we might as well do the whole thing, for there are only 28 players in the field ...
-8: Spieth
-7: Stenson
-4: Fowler, Casey
-3: McIlroy, Z Johnson
-2: Holmes
-1: Watson, Rose
E: Berger, Lee, Matsuyama, Kuchar, Day, Bowditch
+1: Na
+2: D Johnson
+4: Koepka
+5: Hoffman, Bae, Snedeker
+7: Haas
+8: English, Walker
+9: Streb
+10: Piercy
+13: Reed
+15: Kisner
WD: Oosthuizen
DNS: Furyk
But of course this is not the whole picture. The Tour Championship itself is one thing, but the destination of the FedEx Cup is what this is really all about. There are far too many combinations to list here - me simple folk - but what follows are the main points. If anything else occurs, we’ll be witnessing something quite weird unfolding.
If Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson or Bubba Watson win today, they are guaranteed to win the FedEx Cup too. (This is all down to points accrued over the season; life’s too short to go down that road.) As things stand, it’ll most likely be a shootout between Stenson and the man of the year Spieth. Fowler, four off the lead, might also have a say. Bubba and the new world number one Day may be too far back.
As for the other well-placed players? If Paul Casey wants the FedEx Cup, he’ll have to win today and rely on Day finishing in a three-way tie for 13th or worse, Spieth finishing tied fifth or worse, Fowler finishing in a three-way tie for third or worse ... there are more conditions, but as we say, the time we have on this planet is finite. Suffice to say Casey is the very definition of the outside chance.
Rory McIlroy is similarly clutching at straws. He needs to win and hope Day finishes tied sixth or worse, Spieth tied fourth or worse, Fowler tied third or worse, Stenson tied three-ways for second or worse, and Bubba tied second or worse. Too many ifs and buts there, surely, and unlikely ones to boot. The Open champion Zach Johnson may be the best outside bet: he’ll lift the FedEx Cup if he wins today from five shots back with Day finishing tied second or worse, and could even finish second himself and retain a mathematical chance of winning the £6.6m end-of-season booty. We’ll get the abacus out in the event.
But if you think all this is hellaciously confusing, pity the poor players. Here’s the tournament leader Spieth: “I thought I was tied with Stenson. I didn’t realise I was leading until about 20 minutes after I finished and someone mentioned it.” Confused? You won’t be, after this year’s episode ...
11.35am EDT (4.35pm BST): Patrick Reed, Kevin Kisner
11.45am EDT (4.45pm BST): Robert Streb, Scott Piercy
11.55am EDT (4.55pm BST): Harris English, Jimmy Walker
12.05pm EDT (5.05pm BST): Brandt Snedeker, Bill Haas
12.15pm EDT (5.15pm BST): Charley Hoffman, Sangmoon Bae
12.25pm EDT (5.25pm BST): Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka
12.35pm EDT (5.35pm BST): Steven Bowditch, Kevin Na
12.45pm EDT (5.45pm BST): Matt Kuchar, Jason Day
1.05pm EDT (6.05pm BST): Justin Rose, Daniel Berger
1.15pm EDT (6.15pm BST): JB Holmes, Bubba Watson
1.25pm EDT (6.25pm BST): Rory McIlroy, Zach Johnson
1.35pm EDT (6.35pm BST): Rickie Fowler, Paul Casey
1.45pm EDT (6.45pm BST): Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson
We’ll get going here at 12.30pm Atlanta time, 5.30pm BST. See you then!
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