The Tour Championship has been held at East Lake since 1987, and its list of champions includes some of golf’s biggest names. But fans do not always remember just the trophy. Sometimes, it is what a champion says right after winning, while still full of emotion, that makes the moment special.
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Here are three of the most memorable.
1. Tommy Fleetwood, 2025: 164 Starts, One Career-Defining Sentence
No winner’s speech at East Lake meant more than Tommy Fleetwood’s in 2025, and the reason is easy to understand. Before his win, Fleetwood had one of golf’s most unusual records: the most PGA Tour starts without a win in more than 100 years, having played 163 times without winning, with 41 top-10 finishes and six runner-up finishes.
In 2025 alone, he held the 54-hole lead three times, failing to close it out at the Travelers Championship and the FedEx St. Jude Championship before finally converting on his third try, at East Lake, where the FedExCup was also on the line.
“This probably wasn’t the most comfortable I’ve been because as it, as they rack up, you obviously start to think of the things, but I feel like I’ve had a great attitude throughout it all,” he said in the 2025 interview. “When you’ve lost it so many times, a three-shot lead down the last doesn’t feel like that many.”
That “three-shot lead” comment was not an exaggeration. Fleetwood hit his approach shot into the water on the 15th hole during Saturday’s round. With Cantlay only three shots behind going into Sunday, another mistake near the water on the final holes could have changed everything. But Fleetwood handled the 15th well in the final round. He made bogey and stayed in control. From there, he finished the tournament without any major trouble. After so many close calls, Fleetwood finally proved to himself that having a lead did not always have to end in a collapse.
2. Patrick Cantlay, 2021: From “Patty Ice” to FedExCup Champion
Patrick Cantlay’s TOUR Championship win was more than just a golf story. It was about dealing with years of heartbreak and still finding a way to come out on top. His wire-to-wire win over Jon Rahm came after a back injury had kept him out for the better part of three years. He had also lost his best friend and planned caddie, Chris Roth, in a tragic accident.
Cantlay did not sound overly excited after the win. He sounded more relieved. He said, “As good as it felt to feel like I slept on the lead for two straight weeks darned near, it feels good to not necessarily have the lead anymore and be done and closed out. It was a long year… just a ton of golf and a ton of pressure golf.”
The “two straight weeks” comment was not only about East Lake. Cantlay had also won a long playoff against Bryson DeChambeau at the BMW Championship the week before. His ability to handle the pressure in both events helped fans give him the nickname “Patty Ice.” His caddie, Matt Minister, later said the nickname became even more fitting because the East Lake crowd finally started cheering for Cantlay, just as they had cheered for other players all year.
Instead of focusing much on the trophy, Cantlay talked about how he handled the pressure: “I’m really proud of myself for staying in the moment and delivering when it counted.”
That calm mindset had been part of Cantlay’s game for years. In 2011, as an amateur, he shot a second-round 60 at the Travelers Championship, the first sub-60 round by an amateur in PGA Tour history. But a back injury later changed his career and forced him to miss the entire 2015 season. His coach, Jamie Mulligan, once described him as “29 going on 84,” because of how much he loved studying Led Zeppelin lyrics and old biographies. He brought that same focus to golf. For someone who had once wondered if he would ever play again, his quiet words after winning meant more than a big celebration.
3. Rory McIlroy, 2016: The Longest Playoff in Tournament History
Rory McIlroy’s first TOUR Championship win did not come easily. He was three shots behind with three holes left to play. Then, on the 16th hole, he hit a pitching wedge from 137 yards and made an eagle. That helped send the tournament into a three-way playoff that lasted four extra holes. At the time, it was the longest playoff in TOUR Championship history.
On the fourth playoff hole, McIlroy made a 15-foot birdie putt to win both the tournament and the FedExCup.
Afterward, McIlroy said, “I’ve made it no secret that it’s one of the last things I feel like I had left on my golf CV, and I made it a big goal of mine to win it. To be here and to win the FedExCup… to play the way I have in the last few weeks to get it done, is very special.”
His comment about the “last few weeks” was important because this was not just one great week for McIlroy. He had already won one of the season’s FedExCup Playoff events three weeks earlier. With this win, he became the first player to win four FedExCup Playoff events in his career. He also earned $11.53 million that Sunday, including $10 million for winning the FedExCup and $1.53 million for the tournament.
The drama also involved the other players. Ryan Moore nearly won the tournament with a clutch birdie putt that extended the playoff. Afterward, he said, “I just wanted to make him earn it for that much money at least. I wanted him to make the putt.”
Dustin Johnson also had a lot at stake. He knew he would win the FedExCup if anyone other than McIlroy won the tournament. Johnson finished tied for sixth and later said, “it didn’t feel right because I didn’t win the TOUR Championship.”
McIlroy went on to win two more TOUR Championships. That gave him three wins in the event, tying Tiger Woods for the tournament record. But his first win remains one of the most emotional of all.
Three champions, three very different paths to East Lake, and three moments that show why the TOUR Championship has been special since 1987. The 2026 champion is still to be decided, and Fleetwood remains the latest name on the trophy. But in golf, another unforgettable winner’s speech could be just around the corner.