NORTON, Mass. -- Rory McIlroy believes he's reached a turning point in his season, but his "Aha!" moment came well before hoisting the Deutsche Bank Championship trophy Monday afternoon.
Three days ago, McIlroy didn't look like he'd make the weekend -- and possibly even the third leg of the FedExCup Playoffs -- after playing his first four holes at 4 over.
McIlroy bogeyed his second hole Friday and stumbled to a triple-bogey on his third, but he turned things around and was 4 under through his last 15 holes to get back even and within five shots of the lead.
From there, it seemed merely a formality as the Northern Irishman played the last 69 holes at 19 under to secure a two-stroke victory, his second in the event, in the annual Labor Day weekend tournament at TPC Boston.
"It's amazing in this game how things can change so quickly from being 4 over after three holes ... (to) walking away with a trophy this week," McIlroy said after firing a final-round 6-under-par 65.
The 27-year-old earned his 12th career PGA Tour win, the third-youngest player to accomplish the feat in Tour history.
It was McIlroy's first victory since clearing Patrick Rodgers and Webb Simpson by seven shots at the 2015 Wells Fargo Championship.
McIlroy, No. 5 in the World Golf Rankings, finished at 15-under 269 to join Fiji's Vijay Singh as the only two-time Deutsche Bank winners (2004, 2008).
He also won at the 7,207-yard TPC Boston in 2012, besting South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen by one shot.
McIlroy followed up that Deutsche Bank title with a win at the BMW Championship, the third of four Playoffs events, at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind., which is where the event happens to be played again this year.
"It's funny, four years on, and I win here, and going back to Indy where I have great memories from four years ago," McIlroy said.
"I just had positive vibes going in there."
But McIlroy couldn't carry those vibes onto the Tour Championship, and Brandt Snedeker wound up winning the FedExCup.
Nevertheless, McIlroy is back in good standings after rising from 38th on the FedExCup points list to fourth after tying for 31st last weekend at The Barclays.
McIlroy's win pocketed him 2,000 FedExCup points, as well as the $1.53 million winner's share of the $8.5 million purse.
"This has given me a real shot at trying to win that FedExCup for the first time," he said.
Barclays champion and world No. 9 Patrick Reed remains atop the Cup standings while top-ranked Jason Day of Australia is second. U.S. Open champion and world No. 2 Dustin Johnson is third and world No. 6 Adam Scott of Australia fell one spot to fifth.
Fifty-four hole leader Paul Casey of England began the day three shots clear of the field, but was done in by four bogeys in his 73. He finished alone in second.
"Did a lot of things brilliantly all week, but obviously frustrated, just fell short at the last," Casey said.
PGA champion Jimmy Walker finished three back of McIlroy in third after shooting a 70. Scott, who won the Deutsche Bank in 2003, posted the low round of the day at 65, but finished four back in fourth
Reed (69) tied for fifth with 18-hole co-leader James Hahn (69) and Argentina's Fabian Gomez (69), five off the mark.
Johnson bounced back from a third-round 75 to card a 66 and headlined a seven-way tie for eighth with 36-hole leader Kevin Chappell (73) and 18-hole co-leader Ryan Moore (72), trailing McIlroy by six.
McIlroy navigated the windy conditions with relative ease while playing his opening nine holes at 5 under with five birdies, three straight at Nos. 7-9.
He reached 15 under after birdieing No. 12, but dropped a shot with his first bogey at No. 17.
That brought Casey within one stroke of McIlroy. However, after dumping his approach shot at No. 18 in the green side bunker, McIlroy got up and down for a birdie.
Casey needed an eagle at No. 18 to tie McIlroy after his par at No. 17, but missed a 58-foot putt that would have forced a playoff and parred the hole.
Day followed a Sunday 68 with a closing 67 to rise into a tie for 15th at seven back. World No. 3 Jordan Spieth was one behind day in a tie for 21st after carding a 69, and world No. 4 Henrik Stenson of Sweden fired a 72 to tie for 41st at 11 back.
Rickie Fowler, who edged Stenson by one stroke to win the Deutsche Bank last year, had a pedestrian title defense, closing with a weekend-worst 72 to tie for 46th, one shot behind Stenson.
Olympic champion and world No. 10 Justin Rose of England stumbled to a two-triple-bogey 79, falling to a tie for 57th at 14 back.
Australia's Marc Leishman was the final man into the BMW field, with only the top 70 in the standings advancing to next weekend's event at Crooked Stick.
Ricky Barnes dropped to 71st and was the first man out. Singh and Steve Stricker, who won the Deutsche Bank in 2009, were also among those who fell below the cut line.
NOTES: EMC takes over as the primary sponsor of the Deutsche Bank Championship in 2017. Deutsche Bank had been the title sponsor since the tournament's inception in 2003. ... Winds knocked a light fixture in the media tent off the ceiling during Monday's round, narrowly missing a couple of reporters. Nobody was injured. ... First-round play at the BMW Championship begins Thursday. Jason Day is the defending champion, running away with a six-stroke victory over Daniel Berger last year at Conway Farms in Lake Forest, Ill. The top 30 in the FedExCup standings after the BMW advance to the Tour Championship, the Cup Playoffs finale beginning Sept. 22, at East Lake in Atlanta, Ga.
