Rory McIlroy overturned a six-shot deficit in the final round of the PGA Tour Championship to become the first player to win the FedEx Cup three times.
Four-time major winner McIlroy fired a four-under-par 66 to finish on 21-under at East Lake in Atlanta. McIlroy took home the $18 million top prize in the season-ending playoff showdown by one stroke over reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, who fired 73 on Sunday, and South Korean Im Sung-jae.
McIlroy began the round with a bogey but responded with four birdies over his next six holes and walked off the seventh green level with a misfiring Scheffler, who made three early bogeys.
Scheffler moved back in front with a birdie at the eighth but McIlroy rejoined him on top of the leaderboard with a six-foot birdie at the par-four 12th before falling a shot back after a bogey at 14.
McIlroy again grabbed a share of the lead, this time at the par-three 15th where his birdie putt from 31 feet rolled into the heart of the cup.
Both parred 17 as the tension grew. At the par-4 18th, Scheffler found a greenside bunker while McIlroy bounced his second shot off the left grandstand and into deep rough.
Scheffler went over the green out of the sand then pitched back on to the green while McIlroy chipped on to the green and two-putted for par and the victory.
McIlroy has now earned $43m for his three FedEx Cup victories. Tiger Woods (2007, 2009) is the only other player to have won it more than once.
"It's great to end the season on a high note like this," McIlroy said. "To do something no one else has done ... and playing the golf when you needed to to get the job done – incredibly satisfying."
"Firstly I want to say I feel like Scottie deserves at least half of this [trophy]. He has had an unbelievable season. I feel sort of bad that I pipped him to the post," the 33-year-old added.
"He's a hell of a competitor, he's an even better guy, it was an honour and a privilege to battle with him today and I'm sure we'll have many more. I told him we're one-all in Georgia this year; he got the Masters, I got this.
"I didn't really give myself much of a chance teeing off today, I thought six behind was going to be really tough to make up but my good play and Scottie's not-so-great play meant it was a ball game going into the back nine."
Asked what it to meant to win in a season in which he has emerged as one of the PGA Tour's biggest advocates in its battle with the breakaway LIV Golf, McIlroy added: "It means an awful lot.
"I believe in the game of golf, I believe in this Tour in particular, I believe in the players on this Tour. It's the greatest place in the world to play golf, bar none, and I've played all over the world.
"This is an incredibly proud moment for me but it should also be an incredibly proud moment for the PGA Tour. They have had some hard times this year but we are getting through it and that was a spectacle out there today."
