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Rory McIlroy wins FedEx Cup, record $15 million

By Connor Grott

Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Rory McIlroy surged past world No. 1 Brooks Koepka and Xander Schauffele to win the FedEx Cup and $15 million, the largest payout in golf history, Sunday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

With birdies on the final two holes, McIlroy carded a 4-under 66 Sunday to finish four shots ahead of runner-up Schauffele at the storm-delayed Tour Championship. Justin Thomas and Koepka each finished at 13-under in the FedEx Cup finale.

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McIlroy, who was the No. 5 seed and started at 5-under in the new format, joined Tiger Woods as the only players to secure two FedEx Cup wins since it began in 2007. He also surpassed Jordan Spieth, Woods and Thomas for the most earnings ($24.3 million) in a single PGA Tour season.

"I must say, I didn't enjoy that walk last year like everybody else did," McIlroy told reporters after his round, referring to the 2018 finale. "I played terribly, I got myself into the final group and never took the fight to Tiger.

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"Going up against the No. 1 player in the world today, [Koepka] got one over on me in Memphis and I wanted to sort of try to get some revenge today. So, to play like that alongside Brooks and get the win, win the FedEx Cup, it's awesome. And it's amazing how different things can be in a year."

Koepka held a one-shot advantage through six holes but had a double bogey at No. 7. Then, McIlroy sank a birdie putt to push him into the lead.

McIlroy pulled away with four birdies on the back nine, while Koepka had a string of three bogeys at No. 12, 13 and 14.

"He just played better," Koepka said. "I mean, he played great golf today, pretty much mistake-free. He was impressive to watch."

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Schauffele won $5 million as the tournament's runner-up. Thomas and Koepka shared third place and earned $3.5 million each.

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