It came down to the 18^th hole, but American Patrick Cantlay held off Spain’s Jon Rahm to win the FedExCup Tour Championship in Atlanta, and pocketing the $15-million first-place prize for the FedExCup playoffs.

Cantlay, who outlasted Bryson DeChambeau in an epic playoff last week, said the money for the first-place prize wasn’t the key motivating factor.

“The internal drive to win golf tournaments is really what drives me, and so the external factors are not as much of a factor for me,” he said.

With Rahm tight on his heels, Cantlay hit a big drive on the final hole, leaving him 217-yards to the green. He hit his approach to 11-feet and made a short putt for birdie to finish at 69 for the round, and 21-under par for the tournament.

Cantlay was chased by world number one, Rahm, who only made two birdies in the final round. But he also didn’t make any mistakes, and his birdie on the 18^th hole meant Cantlay needed to make a birdie to avoid a playoff for the second week in a row.

“It was tough. It was definitely different than any other week,” Cantlay said of playing with the lead. “It’s the longest lead I’ve ever held. I just tried to stay day after day in the present.”

Rahm made $5-million for his second-place finish.

Conners Represented Canada Tour Championship

 Corey Conners was the only Canadian to make it to the FedExCup Tour Championship. Conners, from Listowel, Ont., capped off a great year by finishing 1-under par in the final round, and 3-under for the tournament. Conners made $466,677 for the week. However, the other benefits are perhaps more important. For getting into the Tour Championship, Conners gains access to three of four major championships (Masters, British and U.S. Open), as well as many other key tournaments in the 2021-22 season (the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Players Championship, among others).

Gligic returns to PGA Tour

Burlington, Ont.’s Mike Gligic held on to 20^th-place on the Korn Ferry Playoffs to regain a spot on the PGA Tour for the coming year. Gligic made $620,442 to finish in 145^th spot on the FedExCup points list in the 2020-21 season. He was near the top of the leaderboard at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, but a tough final round dropped him 14 places into a tie for 20^th.

He’ll join British Columbia’s Adam Svensson and Ontario’s Taylor Pendrith, both of whom finished in the Top 25 on the Korn Ferry money list, on the PGA Tour next year.

What’s in the bag Patrick Cantlay

Driver: Titleist TS3 (9.5 degrees)
3-wood: Titleist 915F (15 degrees)
Hybrid: Titleist TS2 (21 degrees)
Irons: Titleist 718 AP2 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM7 (46-10F @47, 52-08F), SM8 (56-08M @57), SM8 Prototype (61)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x