Billy Horschel wins Tour Championship

Horschel has earned himself £7million (©GettyImages).

Billy Horschel has claimed the Tour Championship in Atlanta and bagged himself a £7million payday.

The American shot a final round of 68 which saw him seal victory by three shots in the final event on the PGA Tour.

£7million

The tournament win earned him £880,000 and also saw him land the FedEx Cup title bonus prize of £6.2million.

The three shot cushion may seem as though Horschel cruised to victory but Jim Furyk was tied for the lead with just three holes to play.

However, Furyk faltered late on and finished in a tie for second with Rory McIlroy who had began the day tied with Horschel.

Crucial

The 16th hole proved crucial to the outcome of the tournament when Horschel managed to sink a 31 foot putt for par to stay in the lead.

Furyk then bogeyed the 17th which gave Horschel a two-stroke lead going into the final hole. Just as Horschel was about to tee-off on the final hole, Furyk three-putted on the same green meaning there was a three stroke difference separating them.

Horschel ensured victory with a solid par taking him to 11-under for the tournament and securing his second victory in as many weeks after his triumph in last week's BMW Championship.

Water hazard

McIlroy had a share of the overnight lead with Horschel but experienced a difficult 18 holes which included a double bogey at the sixth after finding the water hazard.

The world number one then bogeyed 9, 10 and 11 to slide down the leaderboard before finishing strongly with three straight birdies at 15, 16 and 17.

The Northern Irishman admitted that the double bogey on the sixth hole dashed any chances he had of victory.

"When Billy was making bogey on 10 I thought I had a decent chance and then I three-putt there for the second day in a row and I felt like any chance I had to win the golf tournament went," McIlroy told SkySports.

Best season

But the 25-year old believes that this has been his best season in his career and is pleased with the way he's played.

"To win two majors, my first WGC event and give it a real good run in these FedEx events, I'm really proud of myself the way I hung in there and dug deep the last few weeks.

"When I look back on the year as a whole it's been my best year to date so I can't complain."

Related Articles

Padraig Harrington wary of USA revenge mission
Billy Horschel wins BMW Championship
David Lipsky wins the Omega European Masters

At times it seemed as though it was going to be McIlroy's day, especially when his wild drive on the fourth hole got lucky and he managed to record a birdie after a 18 foot putt.

But Horschel kept his cool to also birdie that hole before picking another shot up on the next to take a one shot lead over McIlroy.

Regret

But it was the par-three sixth that McIlroy will look back on with regret.

Horschel hit a superb three-iron onto the green before McIlroy choose a five-iron as he attempted to do the same. But McIlroy pulled his tee shot horribly into the water surrounding the green.

From the dropped ball, he pitched to within 12 feet of the hole but needed two putts for a double-bogey five. More trouble followed on the ninth when another a poor drive saw his ball land up against the fence separating the par give from the practise area.

McIlroy could be heard telling his caddie that he was going to "blast it, see where it goes", as he attempted to clear the trees just a few yards in front of him.

But the ball struck one of them and bounced out towards the fairway before missing the green with his next shot and eventually made a bogey six.

Horschel appeared to have given McIlroy a chance when he found thick rough and bogeyed the 10th but McIlroy couldn't take advantage as he three-putted his way to bogey.

Too late

Although Horschel is the form player in golf at the moment, he will not be competing in the Ryder Cup later this month. His recent run has come too late as US captain Tom Watson has already chosen his wildcards.

Chris Kirk, Justin Rose and Jason Day were all close behind McIlroy and Furyk as they tied for fourth.

Rose threatened to challenge Horschel as he twice got within two shots of the lead on the back nine but bogeys at 13 and 17 cost him dearly as he carded a round of 69.