Rory McIlroy aiming to land $10M FedEx Cup prize

His putting, which has so often let him down when he needed it most, was on fire as he rolled in several key putts on his way to victory, with his switch to a new Scotty Cameron putter undoubtedly a positive change.

He was six shots behind leader Paul Casey, however in the final round he won by a two-shot victory.

With tee times moved up due to predicted high winds, McIlroy got things going early in the morning, birdieing Nos. It’s a big part of who I am, it’s a big part of my success.

He had a reputation for playing his best golf in pristine conditions, unusual for a kid who grew up in Northern Ireland.

Among the first to congratulate McIlroy was his newly married manager Sean O’Flaherty, while Darren Clarke would be sure to be among those quick to send a congratulatory text to the leading Hazeltine qualifier.

The four-time major victor is at nine under after three rounds of the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston, putting him in the top ten of the leaderboard and right in contention heading into the final round.

Olympic champion Justin Rose, who began the day level with McIlroy on nine under, fell away badly after an eight-over-par 79, thanks largely to two triple bogeys on the back nine.

The final group -Casey (73), Smylie Kaufman (76) and Brian Harman (77) – were a combined 13 over for the round.

McIlroy judged his four-iron approach shot nearly perfectly, the ball landing about six feet in front of the pin before rolling up and catching the lip of the hole. He ranked 70th in putting at the Barclays last week, but finished seventh for the same stat at TPC Boston.

He ran into some more trouble on the final hole when he hit his approach shot into the green side bunker.

And he would only continue to rocket from there, posting rounds of 67, 66 and 65 to follow and play his final 69 holes in 19 under. “It has been a good lesson for me this week not to get down on myself, to stay patient”.

Mired in a run of uncharacteristically poor play in 2016, it was an ecstatic McIlroy who hoisted the trophy in the second of four FedEx Cup playoff events.

He reached 15 under after birdieing No. 12, but dropped a shot with his first bogey at No. 17.

On the flipside of McIlroy’s glee, Casey squandered a chance at his long-awaited second PGA Tour win.

“I wasn’t getting impatient”, said McIlroy.

PGA Champion Jimmy Walker (70) finished third at 12-under and Scott was alone in fourth spot a shot further back.

“It was a very simple fix”, he said. “It shows you just how good Rory is”. I found something. I still need to keep going with it. “I never felt like I had any rhythm”.

McIlroy will rise 34 places to fourth in the FedEx Cup standings – and nearer the $10m (£7.52m) prize for the victor – as a result of his victory. Scott picked up valuable points and is fifth in the standings with two events left in the play-offs.