Viktor Hovland won the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake on Monday (AEST), confirming himself as the hottest talent in men’s golf while earning an $18 million (A$28m) payday.
The 25-year-old, who came second at this year’s PGA Championship, converted a six-shot, 54-hole lead into a five-shot victory that also hands him the year’s FedEx Cup title.
Hovland entered the Tour Championship second in the rankings — he also won last week’s BMW Championship — which meant he started two shots behind the leading Scottie Scheffler.
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Hovland blitzed the field over the first three rounds and held his nerve on the final day with four birdies in the first six holes, followed by nine-conscutive pars and three more birdies that gave him a final score of 27-under.
He is the third-youngest winner of the FedEx Cup, and is now fully exempt on the PGA Tour through the 2028 season.
Scheffler, meanwhile, has been left to rue the second-straight year of entering the Tour Championship as the season’s top player before failing to win the showpiece event.
Already fading at East Lake, Scheffler couldn’t mount a comeback on the final day and finished T6 at 11-under — only one shot better than where he started.
Earlier, Hovland’s lead was briefly shrunk to just three shots with Xander Schauffele making a charge around the turn, but the Norwegian refused to crumble and restored a big lead.
Schauffele finished second, five shots behind Hovland, while third was US Open winner Wyndham Clark at 16-under.
Completing the top five were Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay, while the only Australian in the field, Jason Day, came 28th.
Hovland’s back-to-back wins in the FedEx Cup playoffs marks him as arguably the world’s best golfer at the moment, even if not ranked No.1 in the world.
And with the Ryder Cup around the corner, the Americans have every reason to be worried about Europe’s chances this year.
“Viktor Hovland is going to be a problem at the Ryder Cup. A big, big problem,” PGA Tour insider Dan Rapaport said of Hovland after he won the BMW Championship.
Meanwhile, Scheffler remains winless on the PGA Tour since March despite having one of the great ball-striking seasons on record.
He was once again let down by his putter, and faces an off-season of trying to rectify issues with the flat stick that have prevented him from more wins.
“Scottie Scheffler looks exactly like you’d expect somebody who’s having one of the great ball-striking seasons ever but hasn’t won in five months because he can’t buy a putt to look on his 11th round of insanely hot, muggy playoff golf: Utterly miserable,” CBS’ Kyle Porter said.
2023 TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZE MONEY (USD)
1. Viktor Hovland, 27 under: $18,000,000
2. Xander Schauffele, 22 under: $6,500,000
3. Wyndham Clark, 16 under: $5,000,000
4. Rory McIlroy, 14 under: $4,000,000
5. Patrick Cantlay, 13 under: $3,000,000
T6. Tommy Fleetwood, Scottie Scheffler, Keegan Bradley; 11 under: $2,000,000
T9. Sam Burns, Matt Fitzpatrick, Max Homa, Adam Schenk, Keegan Bradley; 10 under: $990,000
T14. Russell Henley, Sepp Straka; 9 under: $780,000
T16. Rickie Fowler, Tyrrell Hatton; 8 under: $710,000
T18. Lucas Glover, Jon Rahm; 7 under: $670,000
T20. Si Woo Kim, Tony Finau, Tom Kim; 6 under: $620,000
23. Brian Harman, 4 under: $580,000
24. Sungjae Im, 3 under: $565,000
25. Nick Taylor, 2 under: $550,000
26. Corey Conners, 1 under: $540,000
27. Jordan Spieth, 1 over: $530,000
28. Jason Day, 3 over: $520,000
T29. Emiliano Grillo, Taylor Moore; 6 over: $505,000