McIlroy the big winner at East Lake

He’s also potentially 18 holes from a bitterly disappointing conclusion to his best season on tour.

American Dustin Johnson’s stranglehold on the season-long FedEx Cup race came unstuck over the final 18 holes, his overnight share of the lead vanishing with a 3-over 73 on Sunday at East Lake Golf Club.

McIlroy ultimately took the FedEx Cup out of the hands of Dustin Johnson. Johnson entered this week’s Tour Championship leading the FedEx Cup point standings.

Rory McIlroy after winning the TOUR Championship. “I didn’t drive it well, I got unlucky a few times just missing the fairways in some bad lies and hit some sloppy iron shots”.

“There’s a lot of scenarios that could happen”, Johnson said.

McIlroy’s eagle bid to win the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup slid by, for an $11.53 million miss – the value of the $10 million for the FedEx Cup and the $1.53 million for winning the Tour Championship.

“I like my position”, Johnson said.

He matched Jason Day for a tour-high three wins, and Johnson joined Tiger Woods as the only players to capture a major, World Golf Championships title and FedExCup Playoffs event in the same year.

Chappell followed Rory onto the 16th and made birdie to extend his lead to 2, but dropped a shot on the 17th, with Moore joining him on -12. If McIlroy wins, Johnson will need a solo second-place finish in order to claim the FedEx Cup title.

Fellow American Kevin Chappell had carded a hat-trick of birdies from the sixth to briefly take the lead, but bogeyed the 11th – after receiving treatment for a bee sting – and had to settle for a 68 to finish a shot behind the US Open champion. But he made back-to-back bogeys at Nos. “I feel like I’m playing really well”, Johnson said. I just didn’t make anything. “With the golf that I needed to produce today to win, it ranks right up there”.

But even after his clumsy chip zipped 10 feet past the pin, an ice-cold Moore drained the downhill par putt to put the pressure on McIlroy’s third chance at victory with his six foot birdie try.

For the first time since 2009, there is a chance it might not be the same player.

Johnson ran off three straight birdies on the front nine to go four shots clear. But the California kid never flinched even when he fell behind early, and he has gone 54 holes at East Lake with only one bogey. I came back and birdied the last hole, tied for the lead going into tomorrow. Yet, this win was for himself and his team and the decision to switch putters – made in the days and weeks after missing the cut at the US PGA at Baltusrol – has proven to be the wisest of moves. Nineteen players in the 29-man field shot par or better. He also finished third at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in July.

“I couldn’t control what anyone else did”, McIlroy said.

McIlroy added: “Look, it’s a great team”.

In the past four years, the victor of the TOUR Championship and FedExCup Playoffs was in the top five entering East Lake: 2015 (Jordan Spieth, second); 2014 (Billy Horschel, second); 2013: (Henrik Stenson, second); and 2012 (Brandt Snedeker, fifth).