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Golf Monthly
Golf Monthly
Sport
Jonny Leighfield

FedEx Cup Winners: The Past 10 And How They Did It

Viktor Hovland with the FedEx Cup trophy.

One of the biggest prizes in golf - both prestigiously and financially - has been claimed by some of the sport's greatest players since its introduction in 2007.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are among its list of former champions and - so far - are the only golfers to have won it multiple times.

Here are the past 10 FedEx Cup winners and a brief explanation as to how they achieved it.

Viktor Hovland (2023)

Viktor Hovland smiles with the FedEx Cup at his Tour Championship press conference (Image credit: Getty Images)

Viktor Hovland arrived at the FedEx Cup playoffs in seventh position after an excellent season where he had already won the Memorial Tournament. 

The Norwegian then finished T7 at the FedEx St Jude Championship before winning the BMW Championship by two and the Tour Championship by five. $18 million later, Hovland insisted it wouldn't change the way he lives.

Rory McIlroy (2022)

Rory McIlroy holds up three fingers after his third FedEx Cup victory in 2022 (Image credit: Getty Images)

McIlroy's third and most recent FedEx Cup victory was achieved despite the four-time Major winner missing the cut at the FedEx St Jude Championship first up.

He responded by T8 at the BMW Championship, giving him a four-under starting score at the Tour Championship. McIlroy would have won the event in his own right if all the scores were level, but ended up landing the $18 million winner's check by a stroke from Sungjae Im and Scottie Scheffler.

Patrick Cantlay (2021)

Patrick Cantlay with the 2021 FedEx Cup trophy (Image credit: Getty Images)

Following a drop to fourth in the standings after The Northern Trust, Cantlay beat Bryson DeChambeau in a playoff at the BMW Championship to move top.

He then took advantage of his 10-under starting score at the Tour Championship to ultimately defeat Jon Rahm by one shot and lift the FedEx Cup.

Dustin Johnson (2020)

Dustin Johnson holds up the 2020 FedEx Cup (Image credit: Getty Images)

Dustin Johnson was outside the top-10 as the Playoffs started, despite finishing T2 at the PGA Championship and winning the Travelers Championship.

Yet, his Playoff campaign was outstanding and helped him take home the FedEx Cup. Johnson won The Northern Trust by an extraordinary 11 shots on 30-under before losing out to Rahm in a playoff at the BMW Championship. He made up for it by winning the Tour Championship by seven and sealing the FedEx Cup title by three strokes.

Rory McIlroy (2019)

Rory McIlroy reacts as he picks up the 2019 FedEx Cup (Image credit: Getty Images)

McIlroy picked up his second FedEx Cup despite trailing Brooks Koepka by some 500 points heading into the Playoffs. 

Justin Thomas won the BMW Championship to take the lead with one event to go, but victory for the Northern Irishman at East Lake helped him land the $15 million winner's check - the first time it had crept over $10m.

Justin Rose (2018)

Justin Rose and his family pose with the 2018 FedEx Cup (Image credit: Getty Images)

The one word to describe Justin Rose's 2018 campaign was 'consistency'. Despite only winning one PGA Tour event, he managed the best cumulative score among everyone who made the cut at all four Majors and achieved a number of top-10s, helping him to World No.1.

He was second to DeChambeau at the Dell Technologies Championship and lost to Keegan Bradley in a playoff at the BMW Championship during the FedEx Cup Playoffs but still reigned supreme after a T4 finish at the Tour Championship.

Justin Thomas (2017)

Justin Thomas sits next to the FedEx Cup at a press conference in 2017 (Image credit: Getty Images)

Thomas entered the Playoffs in second and was right in the mix all the way through, helped by his three-stroke victory over FedEx Cup leader Jordan Spieth at the Dell Technologies Championship.

Spieth remained top heading into the Tour Championship two tournaments later, but a second place for Thomas and a T7 for his best pal was enough to send the $10 million winner's check to Kentucky instead of Texas.

Rory McIlroy (2016)

Rory McIlroy poses with the FedExCup and Tour Championship trophies at East Lake in 2016

McIlroy pipped Johnson to the FedEx Cup trophy in a thrilling finish at East Lake in 2016.

McIlroy had won the Deutsche Bank Championship already and needed to win the Tour Championship to edge past DJ. Incredibly, he did so by defeating Ryan Moore in a playoff.

Jordan Spieth (2015)

Jordan Spieth holds the FedExCup and Tour Championship trophies at East Lake in 2015

After one of the greatest years in the history of golf, Jordan Spieth claimed the FedEx Cup with a four-shot win at the Tour Championship to sneak past Jason Day.

Spieth won two majors and two PGA titles heading into the playoffs but was overtaken by Day after the Aussie won the Canadian Open, PGA Championship, The Barclays and BMW Championship. Spieth became the sixth man in a row to win both the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup.

Billy Horschel (2014)

Billy Horschel stands next to the Tour Championship trophy (left) and the FedEx Cup

Billy Horschel won both the BMW Championship and and then the Tour Championship in successive weeks to claim the FedEx Cup and the $10m prize. He was the first man to win the trophy after starting outside the top-30 in the standings heading into the playoffs.

FedEx Cup Winners

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