Tiger Woods, LeBron James, Caitlin Clark among sports stars offering congrats to Tommy Fleetwood

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[PHOTO: Chung Sung-Jun]

The fans at East Lake chanted “Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy!” as Tommy Fleetwood finally captured his first PGA Tour victory. The Englishman won the Tour Championship by three shots, took home the FedEx Cup trophy and the $US10 million ($A15.4 million) prize that went with it.

After finishing runner-up six times and third six times and after posting 30 top-five finishes – good for more than $US33 million in earnings – all the heartache was over. And the atmosphere in Atlanta was one of relief, too. And appreciation. Appreciation for a man who has endured so much and remained classy through all the despair.

RELATED: Finally! Tommy Fleetwood slays all demons, is a PGA Tour winner, the FedEx Cup champion and $15 million richer

With the trophy in hand, after shaking hands and acknowledging the support from the American crowd that he knows won’t love him next month at the Ryder Cup, Fleetwood sat down with media and was asked if he knew why so many people wanted him to win.

“I’ve always been very lucky that I make a great connection with people,” he said. “I try and be – if I could give my kids one piece of advice – there’s tons of advice, but I always tell them to be a good person first, and I’ve always tried to do that.

“My dad always told me that, even when I was a young, aspiring amateur golfer, professional golfer, he always wanted me to be – he always said person first, golfer second. You’re a good person first. Whatever happens after that, you try to be a good golfer second. I’ve always tried to be that.”

RELATED: Here are the clubs Tommy Fleetwood used to win the Tour Championship

Well done, Tommy. It’s paid off in spades.

Not only did those at East Lake show their appreciation, moments after the final putt dropped on the PGA Tour season, many of the world’s top sports stars went to social media to send their love to Fleetwood.

Here’s a smattering of the social media responses.

https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1959734070990295263

https://twitter.com/LukeDonald/status/1959733861212164333

https://twitter.com/JustinRose99/status/1959745449415557381

https://twitter.com/BillyHo_Golf/status/1959735145201877165