Johnson claims FedEx Cup with 3-shot victory at Tour Championship

Dustin Johnson shot a final-round 68 for a three-stroke victory over Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas to win his first FedEx Cup title at the Tour Championship.

Johnson entered the week with a two-stroke advantage due to his position atop the FedEx Cup points list, and he went wire-to-wire for the victory at East Lake. The five-shot lead he started with Monday morning shrank to two with two holes remaining, but the 36-year-old birdied his final hole to cap an incredible playoff run.

"Obviously it's a very tough trophy to win, " Johnson said afterward. "I've been close several times. This time I did control my own destiny, which I knew what I had to do. I had the lead to start, but I still had to go out and play well today."

"It got pretty close there at the end, which is what I thought it would be," he added. "I knew I was going to have to come down the stretch and hit some golf shots. But I'm very proud of winning the FedEx Cup trophy."

Along with the trophy, Johnson claimed the PGA Tour's giant $15-million prize for winning the season-long race. Over his last four tournaments, which includes two wins and two runner-up finishes, Johnson has amassed nearly $19 million in earnings.

But at this stage of his career with over $67 million in on-course earnings, the money is secondary.

"Obviously I'm very thankful for FedEx and the amount of money they donate for us to be whoever is the FedEx Cup champion, but it's not about the money for me," he said. "It's more about the trophy."

The victory is Johnson's third of the season, and it puts him in the driver's seat to win the 2019-20 PGA Tour Player of the Year award.

Here's the final leaderboard at East Lake:

Schauffele and Thomas provided a late push to deliver the drama in the final round, but they ultimately fell short.

Despite posting the lowest 72-hole score by three shots over Scottie Scheffler, going home without any hardware doesn't bother Schauffele.

"(Johnson) deserves to win," Schauffele said. "He won the first one, tied first in the second, and I don't know where he finished here, but he obviously is playing great golf, and I think that's what the playoffs is all about."

Schauffele and Thomas each earned $4.5 million for sharing second place.

With the 2019-20 PGA Tour season over, the new campaign starts on Thursday with the Safeway Open in Napa Valley, California.

Most of the world's top-ranked players are electing to skip the season-opening event to prepare for the U.S. Open, which starts on Sept. 17 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York.