He vaulted to victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship on September 5 on the back of a final round 65, which saw him move surge to No.4 and into contention for the FedEx Cup.

It was a similar story on the final day of the 2016 season at the Tour Championship. The Northern Irishman stormed around the East Lake course and into a play-off with American pair Ryan Moore and Kevin Chappell after a spectacular six under 64 to reach 12 under.

McIlroy’s run began with nine holes to play. He birdied the 10th and 11th holes but was still three shots from the lead with three holes to play before conjuring up a magical approach shot on the par-4 16th hole. Standing 137 yards from the flag, he punched his iron approach into the green and watched as it bounced once, jagged right … and into the cup for an eagle two.

Chappell, a runner-up four times in 2016, was the first player out of the play-off when he couldn’t match the birdies made by McIlroy and Moore at the par-5 18th. Moore and McIlroy parred the next two holes (the 18th and 15th holes) before moving onto the par-4 16th, which McIlroy owned once more.

Rory McIlroy poses with the FedEx Cup and the Tour Championship trophies.PHOTO: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images.

Moore made it interesting when he holed an 18-footer to save par, which left McIlroy his 15-foot putt to win the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup. For every foot his ball rolled closer to the cup, the 27-year-old earned A$1 million until he ball dropped, for what was a long-awaited victory in the event.

FINAL LEADERBOARD

"After 2012 and 2014, it definitely feels that little bit sweeter that I've been able to get it done," said McIlroy in reference to his previous near misses in the FedEx Cup.

"The golf that I needed to produce today to win, it ranks right up there. I mean, to go out and shoot 66, 64 on the weekend to win the Tour Championship and ultimately win the FedEx Cup, that ranks up there with some of my best performances."

McIlroy celebrates holing his second shot for eagle on the 16th hole in regulation play. PHOTO: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images.

World No.2 Dustin Johnson, who led after 54-holes and was atop the FedEx Cup standings, had a final round he would rather forget mixing bogies and birdies on the front nine before a double bogey at the 12th hole killed his chances of winning the tournament and he closed with a two over 73 to finish T6. However, he would have still claimed the play-off bonus if either Moore or Chappell had prevailed in extra time.

“It has been a really good year. I knew coming in this week, if I won, I win the FedExCup. I had a chance here at the end,” Johnson said.

“If Rory didn't win, I would still win, if Ryan or Kevin would have won. But it honestly wouldn't even have felt as good.

“I knew coming in, win the Tour Championship, you win the whole FedEx Cup. Obviously, Rory played really great. So obviously, hats off to him. He earned it, and he deserves it honestly."

“He won the Tour Championship, and he won the FedEx Cup. So it was … he played great here on the weekend. I just couldn't get anything going here this weekend.” - Dustin Johnson on McIlroy.

Adam Scott had his best round of the tournament, a six under 65, which included a birdie-eagle finish to reach four under and T8.

“It was nice to finish birdie, eagle. I played such a great round today and kind of left everything out there,” Scott said. “But it all came in a hurry at the last two holes. It's a nice way to finish the year.

“Unfortunately, I wasn't up there contending this week. That's disappointing because I started in such great position in the FedEx, but lots of positives to take from this year, and lots of good ideas to work on the rest of the year.”

The Queenslander said he wouldn’t be getting to much rest before returning to the PGA Tour in February.

“I'm actually playing six of the next ten weeks,” said Scott, who tee it up in the Australian Open, World Cup of Golf and Australian PGA. “So I'll be quite busy around the world. Then I'll take a break from December through until mid to end February, and I'll start back up at the end of the West Coast swing.

“You've got to put the clubs down for a little bit, but you also can't lose that touch. Everyone will be playing and getting better and better, and that's my idea too.”