Tour Championship, final leaderboard
-16 S Scheffler (US); -13 V Hovland (Nor); -12 R Gerard (US); -11 A Fitzpatrick (Eng), C Gotterup (US), R McIlroy (NI), R Henley (US), MW Lee (Aus), J Bridgeman (US), L Aberg (Swe)
Selected others: -10 T Fleetwood (Eng), C Young (US), A Scott (Aus); -9 C Morikawa (US); -7 J Rose (Eng); -5 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), W Clark (US); E R MacIntyre (Sco)
At times it felt like there was a certain inevitability about Scottie Scheffler collecting his second Fedex Cup title on Sunday.
As those around him began to falter, the world number one, who started the day three strokes adrift of overnight leader Viktor Hovland, produced a typically metronomic performance with the winning cheque in sight.
And what a prize. Scheffler’s reward for his 22nd career victory at the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta will see his bank account credited to the tune of $10m (£7.4m).
The 2024 champion also joins Tiger Woods (2007 and 2009) and Rory McIlroy (2016, 2019 and 2022) to have won the event on multiple occasions.
“To come from behind and be able to win tournament is a really cool feeling,” Scheffler said.
“There were a lot of talented guys in front of me on the leaderboard. I was fortunate to get off to a good start and put myself in the mix. It’s a gift to be out here on tour. Each and every day I’m going to try to give it my best.”
Across the final three pairings, Scheffler’s four-under 66 was the only round to break par with his superb ability to find green after green giving him a substantial edge over his rivals.
Hovland, whose driving became more erratic, also found that his putter had gone cold when he most needed it, and the Norwegian signed for a two-over 72 as he finished three back in second place.
American debutant Ryan Gerard, who started one behind Hovland, ended the day in the same position and third overall on 12 under par after also taking 72 shots.
McIlroy was unable to rediscover the rhythm that rocketed him into contention on Saturday, with his topsy-turvy round of 69 containing four birdies and an eagle mixed with five bogeys.
Aside from the Northern Irishman there were few moments of sparkle on show elsewhere among the potential contenders, albeit Justin Rose’s hole-in-one on the ninth was an obvious exception.
While Rose was unable to gather any momentum from that to seriously challenge, ending the day at seven under overall, another Englishman Alex Fitzpatrick matched Scheffler’s 66, the lowest round of the day, to catapult himself up the leaderboard to conclude the tournament alongside six-time major winner McIlroy and five others at 11 under.
It earned the 27-year-old a tie for fourth on his debut to cap a remarkable season in which he won his first DP World Tour event at the Indian Open before teaming up with his elder brother, the 2022 US Open champion Matt, to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans pairs event.
Tommy Fleetwood, who famously triumphed 12 months ago began the day too far off the pace for his three-under 67, to trouble the likes of Scheffler and ended in a tie for 11th at 10 under overall.