Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland became the first three-time winner of the PGA Tour's playoff title with a sterling comeback in Sunday's final round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
McIlroy overcame a six-stroke deficit to slip past number one seed Scottie Scheffler and claim the $US18 million ($26.2 million) first prize.
McIlroy shot a 4-under-par 66 in the final round and ended up at 21 under for the tournament, capturing a one-stroke victory over Scheffler (73) and South Korea's Sungjae Im (66).
McIlroy's effort marked the third-largest final-round comeback on the PGA Tour this year.
It was an epic duel on the back nine as Scheffler and McIlroy battled nerves in their head-to-head contest in the final group on the course.
McIlroy pulled even with a birdie on the 15th hole from nearly 11 metres away.
On the next hole, he appeared in trouble but a pitch shot hit the pin and he was able to sink a par putt from outside 2 metres. Scheffler took a bogey on the hole after hitting out of a greenside bunker.
Scheffler had a chance to regain a share of the lead but failed to connect on a 3-metre birdie putt on the 17th. His only birdie in the final round came on the par-4 eighth hole.
Im was bidding to become the first golfer from Asia to capture the PGA Tour playoff title. Even a double bogey on the 14th hole did not derail his chances, though settling for par on the par-5 18th turned out costly.
Xander Schauffele was fourth at 18-under after his 69 in the final round. Max Homa shot 66 on Sunday to finish at 17 under, tied with Justin Thomas (68).
Defending champion Patrick Cantlay shot 70 and ended up at 16 under in a tie for seventh place with Sepp Straka (68) of Austria.
McIlroy, the 2016 and 2019 tour playoff champion, had a bogey and four birdies across the first seven holes of the final round.
Scheffler was up six shots after the suspended third round concluded on Sunday morning. McIlroy rolled in birdies in his two remaining holes of the third round to get to 17 under before beginning his final-round surge.
The margin was down to one stroke early in the fourth round after Scheffler bogeyed the first, third and sixth holes.
Australia's Cameron Smith finished 20th on nine under, 12 shots off the lead, following a final round of 69.
Adam Scott had a level-par final round to finish 25th on a four-under total.
Reuters/ABC
