W

ith only three holes to play, Irishman Rory McIlroy was in a deep deficit and three strokes behind the leader of the season-ending epic, the Tour Championship at the East Lake Golf Club (par 70), Atlanta, Georgia.

However, McIlroy with one stroke from the 16th fairway magically eagled the 16th hole to cut the lead to one stroke and catapult himself to 11 under par. He was now tied with American Ryan Moore for second place. The leader American Kevin Chappell at 12 under par had just completed playing the par 3, 15th hole.

At stake was the US$10 million FedEx Cup season-ending bonus.

The only way McIlroy would win the FedEx Cup would be to capture the Tour Championship and hope that Fedex Cup point leader American Dustin Johnson ending tied for second or worse.

Rory went on to birdie the par 5, 18th hole to tie Moore who also finished at 12 under. Chappell birdied the 16th hole to go to 13 under par but stumbled with a bogey on the 17th hole to slip back to 12 under. Chappell parred the 18th hole to set the stage for a three-man playoff to decide the winner of the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup. Johnson for his part finished at 5 under par to tie for sixth place.

Moore and Chappell could have won the Tour Championship, but didn’t have enough points to win the $10 million FedEx Cup.

McIlroy later commented on his spectacular eagle on the 16th hole: “I didn’t quite think the eagle was going to come as soon as it did, but when something like that happens, you have to make the most of it. The holed shots from the fairway, it’s part skill, but there’s an epic part of luck in there as well and I took advantage of it and made birdie at the last.”

The three gentlemen teed off on the par 5, 18th hole, the first playoff hole. McIlroy’s brilliant second shot left him with a one-meter eagle putt to win. Moore made an excellent birdie putt. After Chappell’s great play he could only muster a par and was eliminated to finish tied for second.

McIlroy’s eagle putt lipped out to his visible dismay and he ended up with a birdie. Moore and McIlroy would now play the 18th hole once again resulting in a par for both men. The par 3, perilous island green 15th hole was next. Even though Moore barely made the front rough with his tee shot he salvaged a par. McIlroy play conservatively and 2-putted for his par.

The 16th hole now saw Moore facing a three-meter putt for par while McIlroy faced a tricky meter and a half putt for birdie and a win. Moore incredibly made his putt for par to the applause of the crowd. McIlroy faced a difficult putt that would determine if he’d win the Tour Championship, its $1.5 million first prize and the FedEx Cup with its $10 million bonus bounty.

With the steely nerves of a surgeon, McIlroy watched his $11.5 million putt find the bottom of the cup and he let out a shriek to claim victory. The 27-year-old superstar, winner of four major championships, had never won the FedEx Cup before.

When asked if he should apologize to Dustin Johnson for winning, McIlroy said: “No, because I’ve had this FedEx Cup taken away from me twice before. So I know exactly how he feels.”

McIlroy articulated his satisfaction by simple saying: “It is satisfying, but, again, I don’t know how many FedEx Cup champions have won the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup. I don’t know how long that goes back, but it really puts a lot of emphasis on the last tournament, whenever they reset the points.”

McIlroy was clearly the deserving winner of the FedEx Cup as he won two out of four FedEx Cup Playoff events with the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston and now the Tour Championship to seal his indisputable claim to the FedEx Cup.

When asked what it meant to be the FedEx Cup champ Rory candidly replied: “It means an awful lot. I’ve made it no secret that it’s one of the last things I feel like I had left on my golfing CV and I made it a big goal of mine, especially after the summer had gone, to win it.

“So to be here and to win the FedEx Cup, especially where I started in a mid-30s [position in total points] somewhere, to play the way I have in the last few weeks to get it done is very special.”