Brandt Snedeker put up a superlative performance to win the FedEx Cup on Sunday beating his nearest rival Rory McIlroy.
Snedeker shot a final round 2-under 68, the only player in the final five groups to break par on the last day.
He won by 3 shots over Justin Rose (71) in the Tour Championship. He collected $1.44 million for winning the Championship and $10 million bonus for capturing the FedEx Cup.
On the other hand ace golfers like McIlroy and Tiger Woods never presented any challenge to Snedeker. They were pretty ordinary even though both were in contention for the cup and could have won it easily with a victory on Sunday.
McIlroy, who had to settle for second place in the FedEx Cup said, "I knew what I needed to do. I needed to win. Brandt knew what he needed to do. And he played fantastic. He really deserved it."
Snedeker beat everybody convincingly at East Lake. He responded with a 40-foot birdie putt on the eighth, an 18-foot birdie putt on No. 13, after taking a double bogey on the par-3 sixth when he hit his tee shot into the water. He ended all doubt after chipping in from short of the 17th green.
Snedeker finished on 10-under 270. For the first time in his career he will move into the top 10 in the world ranking.
Ryan Moore was tied with Snedeker for the lead with an up-and-down behind the par-5 15th green for back-to-back birdies. He made the toughest run at Snedeker on the back nine. Although he could have affected the outcome of the FedEx Cup, he was never in the mix for the $10 million bonus.
Moore, made too many mistakes in the final few holes though, eventually settling for a tie for third with Luke Donald, who shot 67.
Even Rose tried pretty hard but was unable to catch-up after Snedeker's huge birdie on the 13th. The Englishman missed a few putts that proved costly.
Rose was very impressed with Snedeker and said: "He's mentally tough, Brandt, It's kind of a different pressure, playing for $10 million. It gets in your head more than other golf tournaments. Other golf tournaments, it's more routine. But this week, it's not routine. We talk about it all year long, and suddenly you have to walk the walk. And he did a great job of that today."
Snedeker, McIlroy and Woods were separated by only four shots going into the final round, but it was the relative rookie in the big occasions that stepped up to the plate.
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