Tommy Fleetwood prepares to putt on the third green during the final round of the Tour Championship on Sunday in Atlanta. (AP photo)

ATLANTA — Tommy Fleetwood never lost hope, never made excuses, each time that elusive PGA Tour victory slipped away. His popularity soared, not just as a sympathetic figure but for his attitude and the sincere joy he showed the players that beat him in the toughest of losses.

The cheers and the chants — “Tommy! Tommy! Tommy!” — he heard Sunday as he approached the 18th green at the Tour Championship provided the sweetest sound.

Finally, Fleetwood.

No stranger to the big stage around the world with eight titles and Ryder Cup heroics, Fleetwood finally cashed in on golf’s strongest circuit.

He closed with a 2-under 68 for a three-shot victory in the Tour Championship for his first PGA Tour title, picking up $10 million as the FedEx Cup champion.

“It’s easy to say you’re resilient but it’s hard when you have to be,” Fleetwood said. “I feel lucky I’ve had to show that side of myself. And I feel lucky that it’s paid off.”

Staked to a lead when Patrick Cantlay started bogey-double bogey, Fleetwood didn’t flinch when Cantlay closed to within one shot, when Scottie Scheffler made three birdies to build momentum going to the back nine, or when he stared over 200 yards of water to a peninsula green on the 15th hole, his last big obstacle.

“When you’ve lost it so many times, a three-shot lead down the last doesn’t feel like that many,” Fleetwood said with a smile before going to collect a reward long overdue.

Perhaps it was fitting that his first PGA Tour title in 164 tries came with two trophies — the FedEx Cup and the “Calamity Jane” replica putter for winning the Tour Championship.

“Your journey is a reminder that hard work, resilience, and heart do pay off. No one deserves it more,” Tiger Woods posted on social media.

Rory McIlroy was never a factor but was hopeful before leaving East Lake when the conversation turned to Fleetwood.

“I think it shows how great of an attitude he has towards the game, how resilient he is,” he said.

Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley was within one shot of the lead on the front nine but wound up with a 70 to tie for seventh. He said he was “dead tired,” and now has to decide whether to use one of his six captain’s picks on himself. He announces his picks Wednesday.

“The only thing I care about is on Sunday of the Ryder Cup, that we win the Ryder Cup. Then I’ll know I made the right decision,” he said. “Until then, I won’t know. It’s going to be pretty wild.”

But this day, this moment, belonged to Fleetwood.

“It completes the story of the near-misses,” he said. “Winning on the PGA Tour was a step I wanted to take.”

He has been reminded far too often about a career lacking a PGA Tour victory. This was the third time in the last two months he went into the final round with no one in front of him, only to see someone else with the trophy.

For all the hurt, he never lost hope.

“Tomorrow might be my time, it might not,” he said Saturday evening. “But I’ll still have a great time doing it.”

It was his time, and he had a blast.

Thousands of fans surrounded the 18th green at East Lake to watch the 34-year-old from England, all of them chanting his name. Justin Rose, who rallied past him to win two weeks ago, and Shane Lowry stuck around to share in his big moment.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf