Viktor Hovland cruises to Tour Championship victory

ATLANTA — Viktor Hovland cruised to victory at the Tour Championship on Sunday, holding off a determined challenge from Xander Schauffele to win by five shots in the final round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club.

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Hovland, 25, of Oslo, Norway, carded a final-round 63 to finish at 27 under par. Schaufflele, 29, of La Jolla, California, shot 62 over the final 18 holes to end at 22 under par.

With the victory, Hovland earned the $18 million FedEx Cup first-place prize. It was his third win of the season and second in a row. He won the BMW Championship last week in Illinois and captured The Memorial in June.

Hovland has six wins on the PGA Tour and a pair of international titles. Sunday’s victory gives him a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour.

Sunday’s FedEx purse was worth $75 million overall. Schauffele earned $6.5 million and current U.S. Open champion Wyndam Clark, who placed third on Sunday, won $5 million. Wyndham finished at 16-under after final round 65.

Rory McIlroy, who won the tournament last year, placed fourth after a final-round 65.

All golfers finishing in the top 10 took home at least $1 million, according to The Sporting News. The last-place finisher earned $500,000 of the purse.

Hovland shot a 4-under-par 66 on Saturday to spread-eagle the field and was at 20-under when he teed off on Sunday. He continued his hot streak with four birdies on the front nine and made the turn in 31. He clinched the match with birdies on the final three holes.

Schauffele was even hotter with five birdies on the front nine, and he opened the back nine with birdies on two of his first three holes. But he was never able to get closer than three shots to Hovland despite recording a birdie on the final hole.