Thomas is $10m richer as he claims Fedex Cup
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 bonus.
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 £7.4m pay-day.
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.
Thomas, whose five wins this season included a maiden major title in the US PGA Championship, told Sky Sports: “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 on the Web.com Tour last season, but collected more than $3.5m 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 think it’s rightfully so that he (Thomas) wins the seasonlong 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.”
Elsewhere, Bernhard Langer claimed is fifth victory of the season on the Champions Tour as the German recorded a three-shot triumph in the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach. He finished on 17-under-par.