The final pairing on Sunday in the 2025 Tour Championship will feature a pair of players trying to win the FedEx Cup by winning their first tournament of the season – Tommy Fleetwood and Patrick Cantlay. A 67 from Fleetwood and a 64 from Cantlay in the third round have them tied on top at 16 under, as the removal of the starting strokes format has created some parity on the Tour Championship leaderboard going into Sunday.
Fleetwood came into the weekend with a share of the 36-hole lead in his latest attempt at capturing his first PGA Tour title. It was mostly smooth sailing for Fleetwood for the first 14 holes of his third round, as he was 3 under on his round and pushed the lead out to three shots, as co-leader Russell Henley stalled out.
However, disaster struck on the 220-yard, par-3 15th hole, as Fleetwood made his worst iron swing of the day at the worst time, leaving a 6 iron in the water short and right of the green. That led to a double bogey that dropped him out of the lead, and seemed to be the latest example of Fleetwood flying too close to the sun in his pursuit of a first stateside victory. Instead, he showed some incredible resolve to bounce back with back-to-back birdies on the 16th and 17th holes to reclaim a share of the lead going into the final round.
Cantlay, for his part, is looking to snap a winning drought of his own, as he hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since 2022, but is very comfortable at East Lake Golf Club, having won the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup back in 2021. He came into Atlanta not only needing a big week to find something positive from this season, but also to make a final push for a spot on the United States Ryder Cup team.
Through three rounds he has accomplished that goal, and on Saturday, Cantlay shot his second 64 of the week to get to 16 under, charging to the clubhouse with four birdies in his final five holes. Given the difficulty of the 14th and 15th holes, that was quite the accomplishment, and it was enough to get Cantlay into the final pairing with a chance at a second career FedEx Cup crown.
Both Fleetwood and Cantlay will enter Sunday with some heavy burdens on their shoulders, and that figures to make for a fascinating, dramatic final round at the Tour Championship.
For Fleetwood, it will be his third attempt at converting a 54-hole lead or co-lead this season, as he’s fallen painfully short on Sundays at the Travelers and St. Jude. Cantlay has his own drought hanging over him, as well as the pressure of trying to lock up a Ryder Cup spot, with a bunch of his top competitors for those captain’s picks also hanging around the top of the leaderboard – including the captain, Keegan Bradley, three shots back.
They will fight those internal wars while battling with each other and East Lake on Sunday, all with a $10 million prize and the FedEx Cup title on the line.
