Jordan Spieth scoops $10m FedEx Cup prize after victory at Tour Championship to cap incredible year for double major winner

• Jordan Spieth claimed the season ending Tour Championship in Atlanta 
• The Masters and US Open winner also scooped the $10m FedEx Cup prize
• Henrik Stenson stretched Spieth before finishing tied second with England's Justin Rose and Danny Lee
• Former world No 1 Rory McIlroy finished the event on one over par 

By Derek Lawrenson for the Daily Mail

Published: 17:19 EST, 27 September 2015 | Updated: 05:04 EST, 28 September 2015

The look on Henrik Stenson’s face said it all when Jordan Spieth rolled in a pivotal monster birdie putt on the back nine of their exciting duel for the Tour Championship at East Lake yesterday.

How on earth do you compete against a man who putts like that?

What happened thereafter possessed the flavour of the inevitable as the brilliant American closed out the sporting Swede and rampaging Englishman Justin Rose to give his remarkable season the grand finish it deserved. 

Jordan Spieth won the season ending Tour Championship in Atlanta to cap an incredible year 

The young Texan holds the trophy after also picking up the $10m (£6.5m) FedEx Cup prize

Spieth embraces his grandfather Bob Julius after victory at the East Lake Golf Club

Back in the American state where he came to worldwide prominence in winning the Masters in April, Spieth claimed the PGA Tour’s curtain-closer by four shots to follow up all his records at Augusta with another stack full here.

At the age of just 22, this was his fifth win of the season – only three other players have managed that in the last 20 years, including Jason Day this campaign - and also earned him the FedEx Cup bonus cheque of £6.5 million. In all he has won £14.5 million in tournament earnings this year and yes, that’s another record.

‘It’s just unreal and it really is going to be hard to sit down and come up with how we’re going to better it next year,’ said the charming Texan. ‘I approached this week like it was another major because of what was at stake and it feels incredible to win again.’ 

The Masters and US Open champion carded a final round 69 to finish on nine under par

Sweden's Henrik Stenson, one of several players in contention for the FedEx Cup , took Spieth close

What’s scary for the rest following this victory that took him back to world No 1 is that he clearly didn’t have his best stuff. He missed countless fairways and greens over the four days but time and again that magical short game saved him. As he admitted himself: ’My ball striking wasn’t great all week but my putter sure paid off.’

Stenson’s exasperation at the par three 11th was understandable, after striking a magnificent long iron to 3ft. Spieth was 46ft away. Surely he would halve the two stroke deficit, but no. He had been denied at the 9th when Spieth holed from 20ft with Stenson tap-in distance away and now again. They could start engraving the trophies when Spieth holed yet another crucial putt from 12ft to par the 14th. 

‘Every time Jordan had a vital putt he made it and that makes him a very deserving winner,’ said Stenson.

Spieth began the four tournament FedEx Cup play-off series with two missed cuts and saw Day win two of them to become the new world number one. ‘I was very frustrated at that time,’ he admitted. ‘I was struggling and I was watching Jason dominate the game. I wanted to come back strong.’

He’s certainly done that, hasn’t he?

Runner-up to Spieth at Augusta, Rose was giving the leaderboard a look of déjà vu when he raced to the turn in a spectacular 31 shots. He was just two behind but a wicked hook off the tenth tee saw his ball sail out of bounds. He fought back typically with three birdies for a 66 and got a nice FedEx bonus when Stenson cocked up the par four 17th, giving Rose a share of runner’s up spot. It really had become like the Masters all over again.

Stenson started the final round one shot behind his playing partner but finished the four strokes off

Former world No 1 Rory McIlroy could not break par after four rounds at the Tour Championship

Englishman Justin Rose staged a final day charge before finishing joint second with Stenson and Danny Lee

Rose was very unlucky not to win a major this year considering he posted totals of 14 under in two of them, which is usually good enough to win, and here again he missed out on the big prize. But, as he rightly said, there’s plenty for the 34 year old to be pleased about.

‘It’s a season I can look back on really positively and it was nice to cap it off here with a strong Sunday,’ he said. ‘I played beautiful golf all day apart from one bad swing on the 10th. I really enjoy playing on this course. This is my fourth top six finish in a row and hopefully I can come back next year and claim a victory.’

As for Day, he might be considered unlucky to win two of the four FedEx events and not win the ultimate prize. Rory McIlroy was similarly unfortunate in 2012. But it does make for an exciting finale to the season with the top five going into the last event knowing a victory will allow them to claim it all.

Fellow Englishman Paul Casey finish tied third after an impressive start to the tournament

American Rickie Fowler finished the event on even par after slumping to a final round 74

Day was flat all week after his wonderful exploits in winning four of his previous six events but a final round 68 gave him a top ten finish. ‘It’s been a great year for me and seeing what Jordan did, it’s going to make me hungry and motivated for next year,’ he said.

Englishman Paul Casey rued a couple of late bogeys that dropped him three spots into a tie for fifth but a level par 70 represented a creditable end to his renaissance season. He really is back where his ball striking belongs, among the big boys, and just needs a win now to give him that ounce of self-belief to move from his present 26th position in the world back into the top ten.

As for the UK’s other player in contention, Rory McIlroy faded badly with a 74. This time last year, when the Rory era looked like it would last for a decade or so, presently feels like a long time ago.

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