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NORTON, Mass. -- Rickie Fowler benefited from his past playoff success on Monday. Fowler, whose only PGA Tour wins before this week came in playoffs at the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship and The Players Championship this May, stayed composed after a rocky start and made the most of Henrik Stenson's collapse to claim his first FedExCup Playoffs victory.
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"Being in those positions before, I definitely felt very calm out there," Fowler said after shooting a 3-under-par 68 and earning a one-stroke victory over Stenson to seal his win at TPC Boston in the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second of four Playoffs events.
"I knew what I was trying to do, I knew what I had to do, and was very much ready to do it."
Fowler, wearing his trademark final-day orange hat and polo shirt in support of his Oklahoma State Cowboys, polished off a 15-under 269 weekend with a bogey-free back nine that included a 38-foot birdie putt on No. 14.
Fowler, who held a share of the lead in Sunday's third round before settling into second, trailed Stenson by as many as three shots Monday after hooking his tee shot on No. 1 into the trees and making back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 4 and 5. But he played mistake-free from that point on.
The 26-year-old Murrieta, Calif. native was awarded $1,485,000 and 2,000 FedExCup points. He moved up from 22nd place to third in the standings, clinching a top-five spot heading into the season-ending Tour Championship, Sept. 24-27 at East Lake Golf Course in Atlanta.
"Now it's about getting myself in a great position for Atlanta and to see if we can get some more wins this season," Fowler said. "I don't want to stop."
Stenson, the 54-hole leader, came up short in his quest to join Vijay Singh as the only PGA Tour players to win the tournament twice. The Swede maintained his lead through 15 holes before sending his tee shot on the signature 16th hole into the water for a double bogey.
"I felt like I needed to go a bit harder with that 7-iron," said Stenson. "Rickie hit a small 6 (on No. 16). I ballooned it a little bit and into the wind and it was just stalling."
Stenson, who won the Deutsche Bank title in 2013 before going on to hoist his first FedExCup, finished with a 1-under 70 on Monday and 14-under 270 for the tournament.
"A little disappointed, but still a good week," Stenson said. "There were a couple of occasions I didn't really take my chances, and had a couple of bad breaks. All in all a little disappointed, but not too much."
Charley Hoffman, the 36-hole leader, bounced back after Sunday's 76 to card a 4-under 67 Monday, placing him third overall with an 11-under 273.
Jim Furyk, Patrick Reed, Hunter Mahan, Sean O'Hair and Matt Jones tied for fourth at 8-under 276. Daniel Summerhays, Matt Kuchar and Jerry Kelly tied for ninth at 277.
Thirty players were eliminated from the FedExCup Playoffs after Monday's round, with only the top 70 in the FedExCup standings qualifying for the BMW Championship on Sept. 14-20 at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Ill.
Rory McIlroy, the world's top-ranked player, put together a solid closing round after treading water for most of the weekend. He shot a 5-under 66 on Monday.
"I holed some putts, finally," said McIlroy, who totaled a 3-under 281 for the tournament to tie for 29th. "I really got it going on the front nine and even sort of the first 12 holes."
McIlroy made six birdies on his first 12 holes and had pars on all but No. 17 -- a bogey -- to finish the week on a high note.
"A lot of positives," he said. "It was nice to finish the week this way."
This was McIlroy's second event since suffering an ankle injury playing soccer in early July, sidelining him for The Open Championship at St. Andrews.
McIlroy played in the PGA Championship in August but skipped The Barclays last week.
"It's a step in the right direction," McIlroy said. "It's another four competitive rounds under my belt, and I know what I need to work on going to Chicago."
McIlroy regained the world's No. 1 ranking after Jordan Spieth missed the cut at The Barclays, but he will hand the title back to the 22-year-old after failing to finish in the top 10 at TPC Boston.
"My focus the next few weeks is the FedExCup and try to do as well on that," McIlroy said. "I'd love to play well next week and get myself into the top five going into Atlanta."
Spieth also missed the cut this week in Norton, but he remains second in the FedExCup standings.
Jason Day, who bettered Stenson by six strokes to win The Barclays last week, shot a final-round 69 to wrap up this weekend's tournament at 6-under 278.
Keegan Bradley, a native New Englander, played his way into the next round of the FedExCup Playoffs after entering the week on the bubble at No. 71 in the standings.
Bradley shot a 69 Monday to finish at 280, tied for 25th.
"I knew that I needed to shoot at least a couple under today," said Bradley, who hails from Woodstock, Vt. "I didn't look on the leaderboards today -- I saw once by accident -- but I knew that a good round today would take care of that. It was playing sneaky difficult today."
Phil Mickelson capped a disappointing weekend with a 3-over 74, finishing in a tie for 65th at 287.
NOTES: Rickie Fowler's previous best finish in a FedExCup Playoffs event was a tie for fourth place at the 2014 BMW Championship. Prior to Monday, his best Deutsche Bank Championship finish was last year's tie for 23rd. ... Hunter Mahan finished tied for fourth at TPC Boston, moving him from No. 91 to No. 50 in the FedExCup standings. Mahan will make his 35th Playoffs appearance at the BMW Championship on Sept. 14-20 and is the only player in PGA Tour history to appear in every Playoffs event since the FedExCup's inception. ... Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, Jimmy Walker, Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Matt Kuchar and Chris Kirk all qualified for the U.S. team in the Presidents Cup.
