Justin Thomas secured the FedExCup and its $10m jackpot with a runner-up finish at the Tour Championship.
The reigning PGA champion fired a five-under-par 66 at East Lake to move above Jordan Spieth at the top of the FedExCup standings, as 23-year-old Xander Schauffele claimed a one-shot victory in the season-ending event.
Schauffele, whose first PGA Tour win came at the Greenbrier Classic in July, began the final day two strokes adrift of 54-hole leader Paul Casey – whose challenge faded with a closing 73 – but birdied the last to secure a second victory of his PGA Tour rookie season.
Casey lost his two-shot overnight lead with back-to-back bogeys from the fourth, as Kisner edged ahead by cancelling out his dropped shot at the same hole by birdieing the fifth and holing a 30-footer at the next.
Thomas posted a front-nine 33 and found himself in a share of the lead alongside Schauffele, who reached the turn on level par, when Kisner failed to get up and down from the bunker at the 10th.
Kisner bounced back from another bogey at the 11th to hole a putt from just off the next green, only for Schauffele to move ahead by birdieing from six feet at the 13th.
Spieth bolstered his hopes of winning the FedEx Cup for a second time with an eagle at the par-four 10th and a birdie at the 13th, but slipped back behind Thomas with a bogey from eight feet at the 15th.
Thomas posted back-to-back birdies from the 16th to pull into a tie for the lead, but could only par the par-five last, as Schauffele held his nerve and converted a two-foot birdie for victory.
Russell Henley and Kevin Kisner finished the week on 10 under and a share of third, with Casey in fifth place ahead of US Open champion Brooks Koepka.
Thomas, who moved to third in the world rankings on the back his runner up finish at East Lake, has captured four regular PGA Tour wins and the PGA Championship this season. He won all his events by at least two shots, and the Sony Open by seven. His final round scores in those five wins were 64, 69, 65, 68 and 66.
“You have to be comfortable being uncomfortable,” he said about his ability to close out tournaments. “I just enjoy that rush, the goosebumps you get.”
Thomas accrued 3,000 points during the FedExCup Series, beating Spieth by 660 points, and Schauffele by 849. Dustin Johnson finished fourth in the points list and Jon Rahm fifth.
Putting the FedExCup into perspective, Thomas added: “Comparing one week versus an entire year is tough. There are a lot of great players out here. If someone said, ‘You may not win the FedEx Cup for eight years,’ it would stink, but I could see it. My goals at the beginning of the season were to win on the PGA Tour, play in the final group in a major, qualify for the Tour Championship, and play in the Presidents Cup. So it’s fair to say that I’ve exceeded those goals and some.”