Rory McIlroy wins FedExCup, TOUR Championship
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ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 25: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland hits his tee shot on the first hole during the final round of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club on August 25, 2019, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Stan Badz/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)
Holds off Koepka, Schauffele to join Woods as only other two-time winner
Written by The Associated Press
Rory McIlroy sticks approach to set up clutch birdie at TOUR Championship
ATLANTA -- Rory McIlroy won the FedExCup on Sunday when he surged past Brooks Koepka in the final round of the TOUR Championship at East Lake, and also earned the first-place check worth $15 million.
One shot behind, McIlroy took the lead with a three-shot swing on No. 7 and never let Koepka or Xander Schauffele catch him.
McIlroy closed with a 4-under 66 and finished four shots ahead of Schauffele.
He joined Tiger Woods as the only players to win the FedExCup twice since it began in 2007.
And this time, McIlroy had the stage to himself. A year ago, he was merely a bystander playing in the final group as Woods capped off his comeback by winning at East Lake.
This time, the chants were for him.
"It was pretty cool," McIlroy said. "I must say I didn't enjoy that walk last year like everyone else did. I played terribly. I got myself into the final group and never took the fight to Tiger. Going up against the No. 1 player in the world today, he got one over on me in Memphis, and I wanted to try to sort of get some revenge today.
"To play like that alongside Brooks and get the win, win the FedExCup, yeah, it's awesome. You know, it's amazing how different things can be in a year."
Koepka shot an 2-over 72 in the final round, his chances undone by a stretch of three consecutive bogeys on his back nine.
"This week, just didn't get it done," Koepka said. "I don't think I was going to beat Rory today, even if I had it."
Schauffele, who won the 2017 TOUR Championship but not the FedExCup title that year in the previous format, battled through a poor driving round.
"I hit it horrible," Schauffele said, who made his first career ace while completing his third round Sunday morning. "I scrambled. I hung in there ... besides the hole-in-one, I hit it pretty bad this morning, as well.
"It's one of those things, my game just wasn't sharp enough at the right time, and I don't really have too many complaints. Made some good saves and just fought all day."