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Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Tournament favorite Dustin Johnson held onto his third-round lead and shot a 2-under par 68 on Monday to win the 2020 PGA Tour Championship and FedEx Cup title at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. "It's a very tough trophy to win," Johnson told reporters. "I controlled my own destiny, but I still had to go out and play well. I had a lot of great players right behind me.
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"It got close at the end. I knew it was going to come down the stretch and I'd have to hit some golf shots."
Johnson entered the day with a five-shot lead on the field after a 6-under par 64 on Sunday. He was either tied for or owned the lead outright throughout the tournament. He claimed a $15 million payday with Monday's performance and finished 21-under par for the tournament.
Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele each carded 4-under par scores of 66 on Monday and finished tied for second at 18-under par for the tournament. Jon Rahm was 17-under par and finished fourth.
Reigning FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy finished tied for eighth at 11-under par.
Johnson -- the top player in the Official World Golf Ranking -- made par on three of his first four holes. He also had two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine. Johnson then made par on the first eight holes of the back nine before he birdied No. 18 to secure the victory.
Johnson became the first No. 1 seed at the Tour Championship to claim the FedEx Cup title since Tiger Woods in 2009.
The four-day tournament used a staggered scoring system, which meant Johnson began play at 10-under par because he finished first in points during the regular season. Rahm began at 8-under par, Thomas at 7-under par, Webb Simpson at 6-under par and Collin Morikawa at 5-under. Five golfers began play at 4-under par, five at 3-under par, five at 2-under par, five at 1-under par and five at even par.
Johnson, 36, had two wins, two second-place finishes and six Top 25 finishes in 13 regular-season events. He finished 29th in the 2019 FedEx Cup standings. Johnson placed fourth in 2017 and 2018 and second in 2016.
The 2020-2021 PGA Tour season begins with the Safeway Open from Thursday through Sunday at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, Calif.
The U.S. Open will be the first major championship of the season. That tournament is from Sept. 17 to 20 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y.
"Being a FedEx Cup champion is something I really wanted to do," Johnson said. "I really wanted to hold that trophy. It's something I wanted to accomplish throughout my career and I now have one of them. Now I'm going to try to get another."
