Rory is the £12m man

Rory McIlroy’s prize for wiping the floor with Brooks Koepka in the final round of the FedEx Cup play-offs last night was the largest in golf history — a staggering £12million. The benefits going forward, however, might prove to be priceless.

It was not supposed to be this way, not against the American thought impregnable when the big prizes are on the line. With Koepka leading by a stroke with 18 holes to play, few gave the Northern Irishman much of a chance against, undoubtedly, the golfer of the year.

McIlroy, though, made a nonsense of any notion Koepka is invincible by making him look ordinary as the final round unfolded. In the end, it was Xander Schauffele who finished runner-up but even he was four strokes behind, as McIlroy closed with a fabulous 66.

‘Brooks got one over me recently in Memphis, so I wanted some revenge, and it’s awesome to beat him here and win the FedEx Cup,’ said McIlroy.

After all the criticism of moving the date from late September, and the weird, staggered format that meant players started on different totals, the PGA Tour will be thrilled with a final pairing featuring the two best players in the game.

This was McIlroy’s second win in four years in this event, adding a total of £20m to his burgeoning bank balance. Now we await to see if this boost to his confidence helps him to get back on track at the majors next year.

The subsidiary awards in Atlanta hardly added up to consolation prizes as the elite field of 30 players shared £36m between them.

Schauffele collected a hardly shabby £4m, while Koepka and Justin Thomas won £2.85m each for joint third place.

Tommy Fleetwood finished tied 16th and collected more than £400,000 and while Justin rose suffered a quadruple bogey eight on his way to a 72, he still walked away with more than £324,000.

Meanwhile, Erik Van rooyen’s 12ft birdie finish saw him pip Matt Fitzpatrick to the Scandinavian Invitation by a single shot.