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A different format didn’t deter Rory McIlroy from collecting golf’s biggest prize.

McIlroy shot a final-round 4-under-par 66 to clinch the Tour Championship in a long day of golf Sunday at East Lake in Atlanta.

McIlroy, the World No. 3 from Northern Ireland, became the FedEx Cup champion, with his final score listed at a net 18-under 267 in the weighted scoring system used for the first time in the FedEx Cup final.

“It feels like a normal Tour Championship,” said McIlroy, who also won the 2016 FedEx Cup title.

His margin was four strokes on Xander Schauffele, whose final-round 70 put him at 14 under for the tournament.

McIlroy began the week in fifth place and was in second place behind World No. 1 Brooks Koepka by a stroke after the third round concluded Sunday morning.

“I’m pretty tired, but I’m about to enjoy a few drinks tonight,” McIlroy said during the on-course celebration.

McIlroy collects $15 million for the victory, marking the largest single-event golf payout in history.

Even in traditional scoring, McIlroy would have won the 30-golfer tournament by three shots.

Tiger Woods is the only other golfer to win the FedEx Cup more than once.

Last year, McIlroy was in the final group and then struggled on the last day. This time, he flourished when it counted.

“It’s amazing how different things can be in a year,” he said.

McIlroy looked primed to cruise to the finish until bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15, dropping his lead to two shots. But no other golfer was clicking enough to make a serious challenge.

Justin Thomas and Koepka shared third place at 13 under.

Koepka, who shot 72 in the final round, tumbled from the lead with a double bogey on the seventh hole that included a lost ball on his tee shot. He had birdied the hole in the second and third rounds.

It amounted to a three-shot swing because of McIlroy’s birdie at No. 7 on Sunday afternoon.

Still, Koepka appeared in good position until consecutive bogeys on Nos. 12, 13 and 14.

So by the time the final groups hit the homestretch, only a collapse by McIlroy would change the course.

“For how hard East Lake is, I gave myself a lot of good looks,” Schauffele said.

Thomas, who began the tournament atop the standings and had the best chance of winning, posted 68 for the final round. Two birdies across the final three holes weren’t enough for him to claim the FedExCup title for the second time in three years.

England’s Paul Casey slumped with a final-round 72 and ended up fifth at 9 under. His third-round 68 was his previous high round for the tournament.

“I’m glad we’ve got the system we’ve got,” Casey said of the format used for the first time in the Tour Championship. “Whether it’s perfect, not going to go there, don’t know.”

After finishing the suspended third round on Sunday morning with a 68, Koepka held first place at 15 under.

He carried a one-shot lead on Schauffele and McIlroy entering the afternoon’s play. Schauffele shot 67 and McIlroy posted 68 in the third round.

In that round, Schauffele aced the 240-yard ninth hole for his first-ever hole-in-one. He pulled into a tie for the lead with a birdie on No. 17, but Koepka’s birdie on the final hole of the round put him back on top.

Those near the top of the leaderboard had more than half of the third round to complete when golfers returned to the course Sunday, which was the first time in three days that play wasn’t interrupted by a weather delay.

Saturday’s round was shortened because of a late-afternoon lightning strike that resulted in six injured spectators when debris fell from a tree. The round had been under a weather-related suspension at that point.

Thomas was atop the leaderboard when Saturday’s competition ended. But his third-round 71 put him tied for fourth with Casey (68) at 11 under.

The best score of the third round was turned in by Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, whose 66 allowed him to move to 6 under for the tournament and into a tie for sixth place prior to the final round. His 71 in the afternoon left him at 5 under and tied for ninth.

–Field Level Media