Rory McIlroy wins golf's biggest ever prize pot after claiming Tour Championship title 

Nobody can ever deny that it should take a magnificent display to collect $15m and so Rory McIlroy produced one on Sunday night by winning the Tour Championship and so with it the biggest first prize ever in golf. 

And whatever is said about McIlroy’s fifth majorless season in succession, there can be no doubt that 2019 will be a campaign that lives long in his, and his bank manager’s, memory.

The 30-year-old was not simply content with winning in Atlanta on the new controversial handicapped system - or with outduelling playing partner Brooks Koepka in the final round.  

That tussle with the world No 1 meant a lot to McIlroy, after being beaten so throughly by  Koepka in the WGC St Jude Classic three weeks ago. “Brooks got one over one on me at Memphis and I wanted to get a bit of revenge today,” he said.

But there was more. Much, much more. The Northern Irishman made it his mission to lift the East Lake title by taking the fewest strokes of the 30-man field, not merely by prevailing on the unprecedented format the PGA Tour brought in for their season finale.  

And with a 10-foofter for a birdie on the l18th, McIlroy believed that he had ensured that nobody could deny who was the player of the week at East Lake by shooting a 66 for an 18-under total.