ATLANTA, GEORGIA | Sure, it was just 30 players. And those who didn’t make the Tour Championship field included the defending champion and reigning Masters champion, Tiger Woods, and Open Championship winner Shane Lowry. But by Sunday afternoon, those who loved the game forgot about who wasn’t at East Lake Golf Club because of the remarkable play from those who were.
The FedEx Cup winner was Rory McIlroy, who with his third victory of the year put an emphatic exclamation point on his best statistical season since he was the No. 1 player in the world in 2014. McIlroy shot 66 on Sunday to beat Xander Schauffele by four strokes and finish five clear of Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas, who came into the Tour Championship with a two-shot edge thanks to its new staggered-scoring format.
With the pressure of Sunday’s leaderboard staring at them on every hole, none of the players thought about what the outcome would have been had everyone started the week at level par as usual. The answer is simple: It didn’t matter. McIlroy would have won anyway. He was actually 13 under for 72 holes, even though the scoreboard said 18 under. Schauffele still would have finished second at 10 under. No change.
With or without the handicapping, the final round was as dramatic as any all year. Schauffele, who made his first career ace at East Lake’s difficult par-3 ninth hole early on Sunday in the completion of the storm-delayed third round, had one birdie and one bogey through five holes, while the final pairing of Koepka and McIlroy made one scrambling par after another. All three birdied the par-5 sixth to gain some separation on Thomas, who started the tournament at 10-under par, three strokes ahead of Koepka, five clear of McIlroy and six in front of Schauffele.
But missed fairways – and they were legion among Koepka and Schauffele – finally caught up with them. While Schauffele played the front nine even par without hitting a single fairway (and missing some drastically), Koepka took a one-shot lead to the seventh tee, where things turned. Koepka hit an ugly pull-hook on the par-4 that found ivy and magnolias left of the rough. With no gallery on that side of the hole, the ball bounded into neverland and was lost. Koepka played his provisional and walked away with a double bogey. Meanwhile McIlroy, who hit 22 tee shots in excess of 320 yards last week, hit the center of another fairway at No. 7, then hit a wedge to 22 feet and made it for birdie. McIlroy walked to the eighth tee with a two-shot lead.
Koepka bounced back with a tremendous birdie at No. 8, a hole where McIlroy scrambled for par after hitting a 316-yard tee shot but then tugging a short iron that came perilously close to going into the water. But Koepka missed another tee shot left on 12, which led to a bogey. He three-putted the 13th for bogey as well and pushed a tee shot into the rough at 14, leading to his third bogey in a row.
Of course, putting is always important and McIlroy made his fair share, but the driver was the difference down the stretch. Schauffele missed fairways at 13 and 14, playing those two holes in 1-over par. Meanwhile, McIlroy birdied Nos. 12 and 13 from the center of the fairway. He had wedges into both greens and hit them to 3 feet and 11 feet, respectively.
Like seemingly everyone else, when McIlroy missed a fairway at East Lake he dropped a shot, as happened at 14 when he tugged one into the left rough. He pulled a 7-iron on the par-3 15th, which led to another bogey. With the pressure of the winner’s $15 million payday on the line, McIlroy overcorrected his pulls and pushed a tee shot into a bunker on the par-4 16th. He missed the green short, and then, with his hands visibly shaking, McIlroy putted from 66 feet. That putt bumped out of the fringe and came up 8 feet, 8 inches short.
McIlroy then calmed himself and drained the left-to-right breaker. He pumped his fist and walked a little more quickly to the 17th tee with a two-shot lead.
There’s been a lot of criticism of McIlroy’s inability to close. He could have won the PGA Championship; could have won the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis; could have won several others. But he and Koepka were the only players with three victories in 2019 and McIlroy’s victories at East Lake and the Players Championship were emphatic. He is the only player to win both of those events in a single year and only the second player after Woods to win two FedEx Cups (2016 and 2019).
At No. 17 on Sunday, McIlroy again found the center of the fairway and then hit a hold-off wedge to 15 feet, 6 inches. When that putt fell, it was all but over. His birdie at 18 after another stellar tee shot was icing on a $15 million cake.
“Such a cool way to end what has been, for me, a great season,” McIlroy said. “I’ll look back on this season, and there’s been a lot of good things that I’ve done, and try to improve for next year.
“You know, I think I’ve given myself so many chances. And to win three times is awesome. I feel like I could have won more. But to win the FedEx Cup again, to persist the whole way throughout the year; to keep giving myself chances even when I was getting knocked back, and not be denied, I’m very proud of myself. And I’m going to enjoy this one.”
STEVE EUBANKS