Gulf: At the Tour Championship, Rory McIlroy defeats Scottie Scheffler to win his third FedExCup title in historic win.



After overcoming a battle with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in the Tour Championship's final round to win in style, Rory McIlroy became the first player to win the FedExCup three times.

McIlroy entered the PGA Tour's season-ending event six strokes behind Scheffler. He furthered his deficit on Thursday when he triple-bogeyed the first hole, but he fought back to shoot a third-round 63 to close the gap to six shots.

After three bogeys in his first six holes, Scheffler's commanding lead was gone. McIlroy then caught up with him with four birdies in a five-hole stretch, but Scheffler still held at least a share of the lead until McIlroy pulled ahead with three holes left.

Tour Championship results
A recap of the decisive round
On Sunday, August 28, 2022, in Atlanta, Scottie Scheffler lines up his putt on the first green during the final round of the Tour Championship golf competition. Photo by John Bazemore for AP

Scheffler came close to winning his sixth PGA Tour tournament of the year.
At East Lake Golf Club, the four-time major champion finished the round with a four-under 66 to end the week at 21 under, one shot ahead of Sungjae Im and Scheffler, who struggled to a three-over 73. Xander Schauffele was three strokes back in fourth place.

While McIlroy returned early on Sunday morning to birdie the final two holes to guarantee a final-round match with the No. 1 in the world, Scheffler began his third round one ahead but birdied four of his next six holes to establish a six-shot lead.

Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy swings from the fourth tee during the Tour Championship golf tournament's final round at East Lake Golf Club.

Both players bogeyed the opening par-four, and Scheffler three-putted from a distance to cut his lead to five. McIlroy responded with a birdie at the third hole, and Im, who was playing in the group ahead, posted back-to-back birdies to halve Scheffler's pre-round lead.

McIlroy birdied both holes and added another from 17 feet at the seventh to temporarily take a share of the lead after Scheffler made bogey at the fourth and failed to get up and down from the sand to save par at the sixth.

McIlroy becomes the first FedExCup champion with three victories.
Until McIlroy rolled in from eight feet at the 12th to get to 20 under, Scheffler was able to regain the lead with a close-range birdie at the eighth. 

I'm a shot behind the leader after making up for a bogey at the eighth by taking a shot at the following par three and birdying the twelveth.

The pair were tied with three holes remaining when Scheffler made a putt from 12 feet to preserve par on the 12th hole and McIlroy sank a 30-footer on the following hole to recover from a careless bogey on the 14th.

When Scheffler failed to emerge from the sand, McIlroy chipped the pin from the back of the 16th green and poured in from eight feet to save par. Im, meanwhile, overcame a double-bogey at the 14th to birdie the 15th and 17th holes to close the gap to one.

Scheffler missed a 10-foot birdie opportunity at the par-3 17th hole and was unable to capitalise on the last hole's par, which allowed McIlroy to win the FedExCup for the third time and take home the $18 million (£15.3 million) first prize with a tap-in par.

On Sunday, August 28, 2022, in Atlanta, Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, right, and Scottie Scheffler celebrate his victory during the Tour Championship golf tournament's final round at East Lake Golf Club. Photo by John Bazemore for AP

McIlroy and Scheffler played together in the final group during the final round.
Being the first to do something in the game you adore is a really proud feeling, according to McIlroy. 

"Due to Scottie (Scheffler) not playing his best golf today, I got a little lucky and capitalised on it with my strong play. I faced the best player in the world right now and defeated him, so it has to signify something."

Im and Scheffler tied for second place with McIlroy's 66, while Schauffele, who started the day one back, had to settle for fourth after shooting a one-under 69 in the final round and a third-round 70.

Prior to Sepp Straka and last year's FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Justin Thomas shared fifth place on 17 under. Tony Finau and Tom Hoge completed the top 10 and US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick shared 11th place.

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