T

he conclusion of the tour championship once again punctuates the singular dominance of 22-year-old American Jordan Spieth in the 2014-2015 PGA Tour season. His four stroke victory at nine under par in the tour championship over Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose and Danny Lee spoke little of his mastery of East Lake Golf Club (par 70) in truly harsh conditions.

The win sealed his year-long quest to capture the Fedex Cup and its US$10 million bonus. He became the youngest player since 1929 to win five times in a season, allowing him to reclaim the number one position in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Only three years ago in 2012, the then 19-year-old amateur Spieth was attending classes in college. Since turning professional in December 2012 he has earned over $30 million.

Spieth commented about the significance of this victory: '€œWhat this means for me this week is it'€™s validation to the year. It'€™s validation to these playoffs, I think of East Lake as one of the best golf courses we play all year. The [$10 million] bonus that comes with the FedExCup Championship trophy allows me to now take care of our team and to keep them wanting to come back to me.'€

Spieth set a new earnings record on the PGA Tour by winning over $12 million in a single season. The young Spieth said it was his preparation that gave him the edge in conquering East Lake.

The course was drenched after three days of continuous rain, playing slow and uncomfortably long. After three rounds of play, Jason Day, the Fedex Cup leader going into the tour championship, was five over par just on the fifth hole itself. About his preparations, Spieth said: '€œCompared to most other guys, they weren'€™t out there on Monday, or weren'€™t out there Monday morning but I think we were the first ones. It was mainly short game work and then getting my body right, my trainer was here. But I will say that I noticed that it was very, very lonely out here on that Monday, which was kind of nice.'€

Sweden'€™s Henrik Stenson, the 2013 Fedex Cup champion, took the lead after the first round with a seven under 63 and was two strokes ahead of England'€™s Paul Casey at five under. At this point, Spieth was in the distance at two under par and tied for fifth. Stenson said, '€œSo when I hit the turn at six under, I thought there was no point keeping it at 64, because you said no one is blinking on a 64 these days. So I tried to make a few more and I did.'€

Stenson shot a sharp two under par 68 in tough conditions to get to nine under par in round two. Spieth quietly put together a four under par 66 to get to six under par and was now in sole possession of second place as Casey slipped.

This allowed him to be paired with Stenson for the third round. He was ready to take Stenson on in a head-to-head battle. Stenson struggled in the third round and by the time he teed off on the par three, 18th hole he was tied with Spieth at seven under par. Spieth, however, was not done yet and made a spectacular birdie putt on 18th to go to eight under par to the roars of the Atlanta crowd. Stenson could only manage par and found himself one stroke back at seven under par after three rounds.

Despite some early hiccups that allowed Stenson to tie him at seven under par after the sixth hole, Spieth was relentless in the fourth round, never letting Stenson see the light of day. The eighth was a pivotal hole resulting in a two stroke lead for Spieth after his birdie and Stenson'€™s stumble with a bogey. It seemed Stenson'€™s confidence was shaken after this and he never recovered. Spieth would later say, '€œEight was a great birdie because we played it the right way and I just needed to see something go in, needed something to fall.'€

Stenson kept sliding on the back nine and did not have any answers for Spieth'€™s play. By the time they teed off on the 18th hole Spieth at nine under par had built an insurmountable five stroke lead over a demoralized Stenson, whose double bogey on 17 dropped him to four under par.

Stenson managed to birdie the 18th to cut Spieth'€™s final lead to four strokes and finish second in the Fedex Cup race.

When asked what he was most proud about in his magical year, Spieth interestingly said, '€œThe Green Jacket, as far as on-course performance, is what I am most proud of. The Masters win.'€