Rory McIlroy comes from behind to win Tour Championship, FedEx Cup

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland gave an impressive performance on the course and expressed his unwavering backing of the PGA Tour off it. McIlroy became the first three-time winner of the FedEx Cup 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 No. 1 seed Scottie Scheffler and claim the $18 million first prize. With it came his reiterated endorsement of the PGA Tour amid the controversy involving the start-up LIV Golf Invitational Series. "I believe in the game of golf. I believe in this tour, in particular," McIlroy said. "I believe in the players on this tour. It's the greatest place in the world to play golf, bar none. And I've played all over the world."

McIlroy shot a 4-under 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). The outcome means that McIlroy secured his third Tour Championship victory, one more than Tiger Woods. McIlroy's effort marked the third-largest final-round comeback on the PGA Tour this year. In Tour Championship history, it was the largest comeback, eclipsing Camilo Villegas' rally from five down in 2008. He also began the week six strokes off the pace due to the scoring system, at 4 under to Scheffler's 10 under.

Still, Scheffler had McIlroy's full respect after they played together in the final pairing. "There's one thing I want to say. I feel that Scottie deserves at least half of this," McIlroy said. "He has had an unbelievable season. I feel sort of bad that I pipped him to the post. ... It was an honor and a privilege to battle with him today and I'm sure we'll have many