Weekly PGA Recap: It's Spieth's Year

The question generating the most buzz entering the Tour Championship was: If Jason Day wins again, should he be Player of the Year? Really, that question was as much about Jordan Spieth as Jason Day. And as we have now learned, it's not wise to question Jordan Spieth.

Spieth brought a fitting conclusion to the 2014-15 season Sunday by winning the Tour Championship, capturing the FedEx Cup and, like a cherry on top, returning to the No. 1 ranking in the world.

With two majors among his four wins heading to Atlanta, Spieth was still the likely choice to take home the Jack Nicklaus Trophy as the PGA Tour's top player. But Day had a major and two playoff victories among his five wins, and a sixth win coupled with a FedEx Cup championship would've made the voting a very tough call.

Perhaps Spieth took that POY talk as a challenge. He caught first- and second-round leader Henrik Stenson on Saturday, then held off the Swede on Sunday with a 1-under 69 to win by four strokes at 9-under 271. That gave Spieth the $1.485 million first prize and the $10 million bonus for winning the Cup, taking all of the intrigue out of the balloting.

"I had an idea, but I'm pretty sure who I'm going to vote for now," Kevin Na told reporters at East Lake.

"I think I would have had to reconsider if Jason won," said Matt Kuchar, "but what Jordan did this season, to be consistent every week, that's impressive."

While Spieth missed the cut in the first two playoff events and finished a pedestrian-for-him T13 at the BMW Championship, Day racked up his fourth win in six starts at Conway Farms to take over the world's top ranking. There would've been an outcry from some factions if Day had won at East Lake and gone on to garner the POY. But there would've been a sound argument for either golfer.

Spieth ended that argument before it even began.

MONDAY TAKEAWAY

Jason Day

When your lifelong dream becomes reality, what's next? In the case of Day, a letdown. And understandably so. After reaching No. 1 in the world for the first time, by virtue of an incredible late-summer surge, Day had little left in the tank for East Lake. And still, he tied for 10th. But that saw him slip to third in the FedEx Cup standings while also losing the top ranking he had held ever so briefly. Spieth will cost the most in next season's RotoWire auction draft, but Day will be right behind him.

Rory McIlroy

If Spieth is first and Day is second, that means McIlroy will be at best the third-priciest golfer in the auction, and he could be fourth behind Rickie Fowler. A year ago, that was unthinkable. And it might be a mistake. After McIlroy shot 74 on Sunday to tie for 16th in the tournament and end 15th in the point standings, he concluded a down year. McIlroy played better in 2012 and '14 than he did in 2011, '13 and '15. It's not that he played especially badly in the odd-numbered years, just not as well in the even-numbered. So maybe 2016 will see McIlroy back at this best.

Rickie Fowler

Yes, Fowler took his career to a new level this season, but that also has saddled him with golf's most left-handed compliment: best golfer never to have won a major. Fowler did not so much as have a top-10 in a major this year. And on Sunday, beginning in third place with a chance to put some pressure on Spieth and Stenson, he tied McIlroy for the second-worst round of the day. It says here that nothing we've seen so far from Fowler should put him in the same sentence as Spieth, Day and McIlroy. So on your draft day, let someone else overpay for him.

Bubba Watson

Watson clearly has not been a part of the elite conversation this year, and that clearly is a mistake. In real golf, Fowler had a better year with two big wins. In fantasy golf, Watson also won twice -- but also earned a million dollars more than Fowler, thanks to seven top-3s. Watson had a great weekend to climb to T5 at East Lake. And remember, Watson has won the Masters the last two even-numbered years.

Henrik Stenson

What a playoffs Stenson had -- three runner-ups and a fourth top-10s. But he gagged away the Deutsche Bank Championship to Fowler and even had an opening to defeat a good-but-not-great Spieth on Sunday. That doesn't mean he's not a valuable fantasy option. He's the active leader with 28 straight made cuts (only Sergio Garcia is within 10). But he will tee it up at the Masters next year as a 40-year-old, and you have to wonder whether he can repeat his 2014-15 season, or even come close. The feeling here is, no.

Danny Lee

Lee had a breakthrough season with his first win, eight top-10s and his first Tour Championship appearance -- he shot 65 on Sunday to tie for second and finish ninth in the Cup standings. Lee also led the tour with a whopping 36 starts. By comparison, Stenson had 16. Lee also missed 11 cuts. You have to think he won't play 36 times next season, though do expect to see him at the 2015-16 opening event, the Frys.com Open, in three weeks. Lee could be a classic case of being overvalued in drafts next season. You don't have to stay away from him -- he proved he is a good player -- just proceed with caution.

Hideki Matsuyama

Matsuyama tied for 12th at the Tour Championship to win up 16th in the point standings. He had an impressive seven top-5s on the season, but none were wins and all came by the first week in June. Maybe he's still only 23 and we should cut him some slack. Just keep all that in mind when drafting.

Robert Streb

Streb won for the first time on tour, at the McGladrey Classic back in October, and had nine top-10s that carried him all the way to East Lake, where he closed with a 65 to tie for 18th. Streb's season was definitely front-loaded -- not to the extent of a Jimmy Walker -- but you'd have to give serious consideration as to whether he can make it back to the Tour Championship next year. Streb is another "proceed with caution" guy.

Patrick Reed

So as it turns out, Reed is not a top-5 golfer in the world. But there's no shame in finishing 12th in the Cup standings and being ranked 19th in the world. He did have a rather woeful Tour Championship, though, with a 27th-place showing. Still, Reed has won four tournaments over the last three years and could be find his way into the top 10 in the world next year and be considered just a notch below the elite 5-6 golfers.

Matt Kuchar

There's so much about Kuchar's game that is good. He's a cut machine, missing only one all season. He finished in the top 20 in the point standings after a T10 at Atlanta and is in the top 20 in the world. Kuchar always seemed content with racking up the cash year after year without a lot of wins, but this season his earnings plunged to their lowest total in six years. And with all the great young talent on tour, you'd have to think his earnings will only go down from here.

Brooks Koepka

Speaking of great young talent, Koepka emerged in 2014-15, as many predicted he would. He won for the first time, in Phoenix in February. The only real downside to his season was that he faded in the playoffs, with two missed cuts followed by a T49 at the BMW before closing with a T18 at East Lake. Not a good showing in the bunch. It appears Koepka hit a wall. He doesn't appear ready to challenge the top golfers in the game, at least on a consistent basis.