Brooks Koepka proved himself human after all in the final round at the Tour Championship on Sunday when he was comprehensively outplayed by winner Rory McIlroy in Atlanta.
Four weeks after schooling McIlroy in the final round at the WGC-St. Jude Invitational, the northern Irishman got his revenge and then some at East Lake.
McIlroy shot four-under 66, six strokes better than Koepka, to clinch the tournament and the $15 million payout as FedEx Cup season-long champion.
"Just one of those days where you don't feel comfortable," world number one Koepka told reporters after finishing equal third, five shots behind McIlroy.
"This week, just didn't get it done. I don't think I was going to beat Rory today, even if I had it."
Usually machine-like and impervious to pressure, Koepka hit several wayward drives, including one pulled deep into the woods on the seventh hole that resulted in a lost ball.
The American's putting also betrayed him down the stretch, as he missed a three-footer, a four-footer and a six-footer in quick succession to run up three straight bogeys.
"Those three putts I missed kind of took the air out of everything," Koepka said.
His season will still go down as a great one, due primarily to his major record -- victory at the PGA Championship and runnerup finishes at the Masters and U.S. Open.
But Sunday's result will give his rivals, most notably McIlroy, confidence that he is beatable.
"I mean, I can't bring it every day," Koepka said, something his peers were starting to wonder about.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Ian Ransom)
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*Northern Irishman wins by four shots
*Clinches FedEx Cup for second time
*Collects biggest prize in golf history
Victory at the Tour Championship in Atlanta on Sunday will not completely erase the disappointment of a futile season at the majors for Rory McIlroy, but it may be worth far more than the $15 million he received for winning the FedEx Cup.
The confidence gained from playing his best on a big stage and beating nemesis Brooks Koepka can only help his self-belief after a disappointing final round when paired with Tiger Woods at the same event last year.
The Northern Irishman emphatically outdueled Americans Koepka and Xander Schauffele with a closing four-under 66 at East Lake en route to the biggest prize in the sport.
He finished at 18-under, four shots ahead of Schauffele to claim the season-long FedEx Cup for the second time on the PGA Tour, after his 2016 win.
It was a sweet stroll up the final hole for McIlroy, who last year had to endure the walk alongside a victorious Woods as the heaving gallery chanted, "Tiger, Tiger."
This time, chants of "Rory, Rory" rang out from the crowd.
"I must say I didn't enjoy that walk last year like everyone else did," McIlroy said. "I never took the fight to Tiger.
"It's amazing how different things can be in a year."
McIlroy took the fight to Koepka just four weeks after being given a lesson by the American when they were paired in the final round at a World Golf Championships event in Memphis.
"Going up against the number one player in the world today, he got one over me in Memphis and I wanted to get some revenge," McIlroy said.
"To play like that alongside Brooks, get the win, win the FedEx Cup, it's awesome."
Schauffele shot a closing 70, while Koepka was unusually error-prone in a 72 to tie for third with Justin Thomas, five shots behind.
McIlroy, who teed off one stroke behind Koepka, hit the ball long and straight as he split fairway after fairway.
Koepka, on the other hand, was often wayward. At the par-four seventh he lost a ball after hooking a tee shot into the trees and took a double-bogey.
McIlroy picked up three shots there with a birdie and from that point Schauffele was his main challenger.
The Northern Irishman opened the door slightly with bogeys at the 14th and 15th holes, but slammed it shut again with a clutch eight-foot par putt at the 16th.
THIRD WIN
McIlroy's third win of the year followed triumphs at the Players Championship and Canadian Open.
His major results were disappointing, however, particularly a missed cut at the British Open in his homeland at Royal Portrush.
"To win three times is awesome," he said.
"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."
The Tour Championship used a staggered scoring system for the first time, based on accumulated points.
Hence, top seed Thomas started at 10-under, the second seed at eight-under and so on down to even par for the 26th-to-30th ranked players in the field.
This was done to ensure that the winner of the season-long FedEx Cup points race and the winner of the Tour Championship were guaranteed to be the same person.
Fifth seed McIlroy, who started on five-under, shot the best score of the field anyway, 13-under-par 267.
"My goal was to shoot the lowest score of the week," he said.
Mission accomplished.
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There will be no defending champion at next week's Tour Championship after Tiger Woods failed to qualify for the season-ending event.
Only the top 30 players on the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup points list are eligible to play at East Lake in Atlanta, where $15 million will be up for grabs for the winner.
Woods needed to place about sixth at the BMW Championship on Sunday to qualify, but he tied for 37th at Medinah, a distant 18 strokes behind winner Justin Thomas.
Apart from his win at the Masters for his 15th major title, Woods had a relatively quiet season, which petered out without a whimper amid physical and emotional fatigue.
"The rest of the tournaments I didn't really play as well as I wanted to, but at the end of the day, I'm the one with the green jacket," he told reporters on Sunday.
Still, Woods will be disappointed not to get a chance to return to the scene of one of the most memorable victories of his career.
Successfully returning last year from major back surgery, he ended a five-year drought with his two-stroke win at East Lake, the 80th of his PGA Tour career, which was at the time just two shy of Sam Snead's all-time mark.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; editing by Tony Lawrence/Greg Stutchbury)
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ATLANTA - Tiger Woods scored his first victory in more than 5 years on Sunday, completing a 2-shot win at the Tour Championship to crown a fairy tale comeback after a near 2-year absence.
The 42-year-old, 14-time major winner carded a one-over-par 71 at Atlanta's East Lake Golf Course to claim the 80th title of his glittering career.
Woods, who finished with an 11-under-par aggregate 269, raised his arms in delight after the victory, with several thousand fans ringing the green roaring appreciation.
Woods admitted he had nearly been overcome with emotion as he walked up the 18th fairway.
"I was having a hard time not crying coming up the last hole," Woods said.
"I kept saying 'Hey, I could still play this out of bounds.' But once I got the ball on the green I gave (caddie) Joey (LaCava) a high five because I knew it was done."
It was an emotional finale to a year which saw Woods return to the highest level after he had once feared he may never play golf again.
"It was just a grind out there," Woods said of his final round. "I loved every bit of it. The fight, the grind, the tough conditions.
"Beginning of the year (winning) was a tall order. But as the year progressed I found my swing and put the pieces together and I knew I could do it."
The victory erased any last lingering doubts about Woods' ability to compete at the highest level, something he had served notice of with top 10 finishes at the British Open and US PGA Championships.
Woods, who returned in January after missing almost the entire previous two years with a debilitating back injury, held a three-shot advantage heading into the final round.
A birdie on his opening hole extended Woods' lead to four shots to give the former world number one a dream start.
With the remainder of the 30-man field struggling to make any inroads, Woods then played solid if unspectacular golf to keep a stranglehold on the lead.
A bogey on the 10th was a mere blip, with Woods re-establishing a five-shot cushion at 13 under after rolling in a 13-foot birdie putt on the par-four 13th.
Billy Horschel closed the gap to four shots after after a four-under-par final round 66, but Woods looked to be in control.
Woods, however, gave his army of fans roaring him on a scare though when back-to-back bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes cut his lead to two with two to play.
But he steadied the ship with a par on the 17th and then closed out the win with a par on 18.
The victory was Woods's first since his win at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August 2013.
Meanwhile England's Olympic champion Justin Rose ensured he walks off with the FedEx Cup playoff title after finishing on six under for a share of fourth.
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Tiger Woods edged closer to snapping a five-year winless drought as the 14-time major winner maintained a share of the lead on Friday at the halfway stage of the Tour Championship.
Woods birdied the final hole en route to a 68 to tie Justin Rose (67) at seven-under par 133 in heatwave conditions at the East Lake golf course in Atlanta.
Rory McIlroy, winner two years ago of both the FedEx Cup and Tour Championship, remains in the hunt in sole possession of third after shooting a 68.
"The best way to describe today is I ground out a round," said Woods, a former two-time winner of the season-ending tournament.
"I wasn't quite as sharp as I was yesterday, but I hung in there and tried to miss the ball on the correct sides so I had angles.
"For the most part, I did that."
Woods had been two strokes clear of his rivals before stumbling to a double-bogey on 16.
But the World No. 21 recovered to shoot par on 17 and then sank a two-footer for birdie on 18 to tie his English rival Rose.
Woods' last victory was in 2013 at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
He began the round tied at the top with American compatriot Rickie Fowler but soon moved two clear of Fowler who bogeyed the first hole.
He then moved two strokes clear of the elite 30-player field on the back nine with birdies at the par-four 12th and par-four 14th. Woods received the loudest roar from his gallery by holing a 24-foot birdie putt on the par-three 15th.
On the next hole, Woods found himself staring at a near impossible greenside bunker shot. With no option but to chip out sideways he did that and then three-putted for a disappointing double-bogey six.
Woods isn't taking anything for granted as he goes for his 80th Tour victory on the weekend.
"Well, I need to get there first, and that's my responsibility to get there," he said.
"I've got 36 more holes to go, and hopefully I'll be answering that question come Sunday night."
Woods says staying calm under pressure will be key in order for him to shoot low scores over the next two rounds.
"I've been pretty good at being patient in my career," he said.
"I've won 14 majors so in order to get ahead I've got to stay patient."
Bryson DeChambeau’s dream of ending his season as PGA Tour No. 1 has turned into a nightmare for the 25-year old who posted scores of 71 and 75 for a share of 27th place.
His second round was a sour mix of just two birdies and seven bogeys.
Triple major winner Brooks Koepka rounds out the field with an eight-over par 78 on Friday for a seven-over par 147 total.
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