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ATLANTA: Asked and now answered.

Emphatically.

Stop questioning Tommy Fleetwood about finally getting his first PGA Tour victory. He got his win, after so many close calls, in a big way. The Englishman captured the FedEx Cup championship with a victory in the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club on Sunday. He takes away the coveted playoff championship and a $10 million winner’s check.

Fleetwood finished 18 under par with a final-round 68. Patrick Cantlay (71), who played in the final pairing, and Russell Henley (69), the first- and second-round leader, tied for second at 15 under.

Fleetwood had a huge smile, maybe of relief, after making his tap-in putt to finish as fans circled the 18th green. They chanted “Tom-my, Tom-my,” as he hugged his caddie. Then he looked upward and let out a scream of delight. He raised both hands as he walked off the green and was greeted by several players.

The win came in Fleetwood’s 164th career start on tour, which included 30 top-5 finishes. Two of those near misses came in these playoffs, a tie for third at the St. Jude’s Championship and a tie for fourth at the BMW Championship. He’s had to answer questions about finally breaking through, especially when he entered the final round holding a share of the lead.

“It’s a shame the story is gone,” Fleetwood said of finally breaking through. “I enjoyed it while it lasted in a sick way. ... I’ll be proud of the strength that I had to show to keep coming back and showing that it can be done if you’re resilient enough and you keep putting yourself in those positions.

“I’ll look back at it and I’ll be able to tell people that I am really, really pleased that I get to talk to kids or aspiring golfers or aspiring sports people, whatever they’re trying to do, and I can genuinely talk about showing resilience or keep coming back after tough losses and keep working and all of those things and the skills that you have to use in order to put yourself there again and then finally get it done.”

Fleetwood, who entered fifth in the points standings, became the first player in the FedEx Cup era (since 2007) to claim his first career PGA tour title at the Tour Championship.

Cantlay found trouble early with a bogey at the first hole and a double-bogey at the second. When Fleetwood birdied No. 2, he was 17 under to Cantlay’s 13 under. Henley took over second place at 15 under.

Fleetwood took a three-stroke lead, at 18 under, into the second nine over Cantay and Henley.

When Cantlay birdied and Fleetwood bogeyed the 10th, just a stroke separated the two. Cantlay bogeyed the 11th, and Fleetwood’s edge was back to two strokes. A Fleetwood birdie at the 13th, and the lead was back to three at 19-under.

When Fleetwood’s tee shot at the par-3 15th landed on dry land — after he hit water in the third round — the tournament was all but over even though he took a bogey. He would play the final hole with a three-stroke lead.

“I think it’s easy for anybody to say that they are resilient, that they bounce back, that they have fight,” Fleetwood said. “It’s different when you actually have to prove it. There’s different types of mental strength. I’ve clearly got things wrong in the dire moments of tournaments, and I might have made the odd dodgy decision, might have put a bad swing on it.

“But I’ve had to have mental strength in a different way. I’ve had to be resilient in terms of putting myself back up there, getting myself back in that position, no matter how many times it doesn’t go my way, no matter how many doubts might creep in. Think the right things, say the right things to yourself, say the right things outwardly, and I am really pleased that I can be proof that if you do all the right things and you just keep going that it can happen.”

Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player and FedEx Cup points leader, started four strokes back. He hit his opening drive out of bounds and managed bogey. He would get two within two strokes of Fleetwood on the back nine but put his tee shot on the par-3 15th in the water and made double-bogey. Scheffler’s chance at back-to-back FedEx Cup titles was over. Scheffler (68) finished tied for fourth at 14 under.

“I wasn’t as sharp as I would have hoped to have (been),” Scheffler said. “I had a good first round, but outside of that didn’t really play my best.”

The Tour Championship changed formats this year to a winner-take-all final with all players starting at even par. However, had they used the starting- strokes format from the previous six years, Scheffler would have won the tournament and the title. Fleetwood, starting at 5 under, who have finished at 23 under; Scheffler, starting 10 under, who have finished 24 under.

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario: Getting her first career win has not stopped Japan’s Akie Iwai from going for another, at least judging by her opening round at the CPKC Women’s Open in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

Fresh off a victory at the Standard Portland Classic last week, Iwai clearly wasn’t bothered by distractions as she raced to a 7-under-par 64 Thursday at Mississaugua Golf and Country Club, giving her a two-stroke advantage over the rest of the field.

The 23-year-old Iwai sank birdies on her first two holes of the tournament, played on the back nine. She followed up with birdies on Nos. 18, 4, 6, 8 and 9 to provide herself a reasonable margin for error going into Friday.

“So last week I won, but already it’s in the past, already past,” Iwai said. “That’s why I was change the mind (for) good focus this week.”

The rookie shot out of the gate earlier this year, grabbing second-place finishes at Honda LPGA Thailand in February and the JM Eagle LA Championship in April.

Five golfers are tied for second at 5 under, including Megan Khang, who is back at the old stomping grounds in Canada, where she won her first LPGA title in 2023.

Khang shook off a bogey on the par-3 third to record six birdies, including back-to-back on the 12th and 13th.

“It’s always nerve-wracking coming back to a tournament you have won. Obviously, you would like to do it again,” Khang said. “It’s definitely a little cool coming in and still seeing some spots where my face is. Still catches me off guard.”

Fifteen-year-old phenom Aphrodite Deng, a Canadian national, is also sitting at 5 under.

The amateur closed her round with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 17 and 18 and pointed to her short game as being the reason for her strong start.

“Today my putting was really good,” she said.

World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand, looking for her second win of the season, recorded four birdies across Nos. 1-6 to put herself in contention.

She acknowledged that playing in first tournament as No. 1 was on her mind.

“I’m not going to lie saying I’m not thinking about that,” Thitikul said. “But like to be honest, I just told myself like, you can think about it. You can be worry. You can be nerves. But like at the end of the day, you got to pass this as well.”

She, Khang and Deng are joined by Ireland’s Leona Maguire and Mexico’s Gaby Lopez in the tie for second.

Alone in seventh place is South Korea’s Soo Bin Joo (67). Five golfers are a stroke behind her in a tie for eighth at 3 under: South Korea’s Jeongeun Lee5, Taiwan’s Peiyun Chien, Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, Japan’s Mao Saigo and Jenny Bae.

World No. 2 Nelly Korda is 2 under (T13), and 2024 winner Lauren Coughlin in a tie for 109th at 3 over.