When the stakes are at their biggest and tension is high, it takes a special type of character to stay calm and produce their best golf. So when there’s a cool $10 million bonus up for grabs, this is the exact situation that many of the world’s best encountered this week at the TOUR Championship.

Home favourite Dustin Johnson was in the lead after 54 holes, with both the tournament and the FedEx Cup in his control. Europe’s best hope was Rory McIlroy and the equation for him to secure the jackpot was quite simple – win the tournament with Johnson finishing in T2 or worse.

So onto the final round and no-one saw what happened coming. Big-hitting Johnson had been a model of consistency in recent weeks so many thought it was a mere formality that the American would waltz to victory. However, a worst-of-the-day 73 saw him plummet down the leaderboard, blowing the TOUR Championship and FedEx Cup wide open again.

McIlroy, starting the final round just two shots off the lead, carded a magnificent six-under-par 64 to join Moore and Chappell in a three-way play-off. Being three behind the leaders with three holes left to play, things weren’t looking great for the Northern Irishman. Rory found himself on the left-hand side of the 16th fairway off the tee. 137 yards was the number, an eagle two was the result. A truly magnificent feat when it was needed the most. He then went on to follow this up with a birdie at the 72nd hole to join the two Americans at the top of the leaderboard.

An eagle lip-out at the first extra hole for McIlroy secured an easy birdie, but it wasn’t until the fourth extra hole when McIlroy rolled in a 15-footer to take golf’s biggest (monetary) prize. Perfect timing to find some form ahead of this week’s Ryder Cup.

What equipment did Rory use?

• Driver – Nike Vapor Fly Pro (9.5 degrees)
• Fairway woods – Nike Vapor Speed (15 & 19 degrees)
• Irons – Nike VR Pro Blade (4-9)
• Wedges – Nike Engage (47, 52, 56 & 59)
• Putter – Scotty Cameron