Schauffele wins Tour, Thomas claims $10m jackpot

ATLANTA: Rookie Xander Schauffele outdid the big guns to win the Tour Championship on Sunday but Justin Thomas hit the jackpot by taking home the $10 million prize for claiming the FedEx Cup playoff title.

The 23-year-old Schauffele fired a two-under 68 in the fourth round to became the first rookie to win the Tour Championship as he beat Thomas by one shot at East Lake golf course.Thomas put the finishing touches on his breakthrough season by closing with a 66 to claim the PGA Tour’s playoff title and the $10 million first place prize that goes with it.

The last time different players won the tournament and the FedEx Cup was in 2009, when Phil Mickelson won the Tour Championship and Tiger Woods won the Cup.Jordan Spieth made a run at the FedEx Cup title with a Sunday charge but his three-under 67 left him in second place overall, 660 points back of Thomas in the standings.

The Tour Championship is the last of four events of the FedEx Cup playoffs and the finale to the PGA Tour campaign for the 11th consecutive season. Thomas’ playoff win brings to a close the year-long schedule that began last October in California.

Five players, including Thomas, controlled their own playoff destiny if they could capture the Tour Championship this week, but Schauffele came out of the shadows to make it interesting. Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Marc Leishman and Jon Rahm also could have all won the FedEx Cup title with a Tour Championship victory.Schauffele finished with a 12-under 268 total, one stroke ahead of Thomas.