ATLANTA — Three weeks ago, Billy Horschel had every reason to start looking ahead to next season.
He had missed the cut in the first PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoff event to fall to No. 82 in the standings. He had only two top-10 finishes all year, scant evidence that he was on the verge of something special. He was weeks away from becoming a father.
What followed was the best golf of his life and a payoff that was more than he could grasp.
Horschel capped his improbable playoff run Sunday at East Lake by pulling away from Rory McIlroy early and holding off Jim Furyk late. He posted his 12th straight round in the 60s — 2-under 68 — to win the Tour Championship by three shots with 11-under 269 and claim the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus, added to the $1.4 million he got for winning the tournament.
"I'm not sure life can be better than this," the former Gator said.
No one had won the FedEx Cup starting the playoffs lower than No. 19. Horschel started at No. 69. But he was the runnerup in the second playoff event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, and won last weekend's BMW Championship.
Those three weeks of prize money and the FedEx Cup bonus were worth nearly $13.5 million.
"I remember flying home and talking with my wife, and she said, 'You're probably just waiting for the season to be over and start a new season.' I sort of was," Horschel said. "But at the same time, I knew my game was in the right shape and I just needed to get out of my own way. I needed to allow my golf game to show."
It was too late to show Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson, who made his three picks after the Deutsche Bank Championship and had no reason to select a guy whose only tour win was last year in the Zurich Classic.
McIlroy will have to settle for a year worth more than $10 million, winning two majors and a World Golf Championship event at the Bridgestone Invitational, and being the undisputed No. 1 player in the world.
He lost his way Sunday with a tee shot into the water for double bogey on the par-3 fifth and self-destructed with three sloppy bogeys around the turn. Three consecutive birdies late in the round gave him 71 and a tie for second place with Furyk, who closed with back-to-back bogeys for 69.
Clinging to a one-shot lead, Horschel sank an 8-foot par putt on No. 13 to avoid his first three-putt of the week and stay one ahead of Furyk. The biggest blow came at the 16th when Horschel drove right into the trees, wisely pitched back to the fairway and saw his approach spin back 30 feet short of the cup.
"It came off and got up on top of that ridge, and I said, 'This looks good.' And it went in, and it was huge," Horschel said. "I knew Jim was nipping at my heels and everything."
Teen wins LPGA major
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France — Hyo-Joo Kim came from a shot back on the last hole to beat Karrie Webb by one shot and win the Evian Championship, becoming the third-youngest women's major winner at 19 years, 2 months.
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Explore all your optionsThe South Korean trailed Webb, 39, heading into the 18th but turned the tables with a birdie from 12 feet. Webb then missed a chance to force a playoff when a difficult attempt for par from the same distance drifted left of the hole.
"I feel very happy, like a bird," Kim said through a translator. "I want to fly in the sky."
Kim led Webb by one overnight and finished at 11-under 273. Both shot 3-under 68. Seminole's Brittany Lincicome, who led after the second round, shot 71 to finish at 4-under 280.