Jon Rahm remains the hottest player in golf after securing the Genesis Invitational title on Sunday with a final score of 17 under.

The win was his fifth from his past nine worldwide starts, and his third PGA Tour title of 2023 after going back-to-back at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and The American Express in January. He also won the Spanish Open in October, and the DP World Tour Championship in November.

He led by three strokes coming into his final round at Riviera Country Club, and he remained with a multi-stroke lead after posting a two-under front nine. But things went haywire on the home stretch, with bogeys on 10 and 12 briefly handing Max Homa a one-stroke lead.

Homa would bogey the 13th, tying things up at 15 under, before Rahm pulled away again with a 45-foot birdie putt on 14, and a tap-in birdie after a picture-perfect tee shot on the par-three 16th.

Homa ended up two strokes behind Rahm at 15 under, giving him his fourth top-three finish from eight PGA Tour starts this season, including two wins.

Patrick Cantlay finished one further back at 14 under, Will Zalatoris rode the best score of the day – a seven-under 64 – up into outright fourth place at 13 under, and Keith Mitchell rounded out the top five at 12 under.

Speaking to CBS after stepping off the final green, Rahm was asked to explain the joy of his 10th PGA Tour win, having surpassed the total of his childhood hero Seve Ballesteros (nine).

"I could explain exhaustion right now," he said. "Because that was a tough week, and a tough Sunday.

"Max battled out there, and Patrick kind of gave us a scare, but I'm just glad I could come through at the end.

"Beating Seve – I know he didn't play full-time PGA tour, and I know five of those wins are majors – but still, to reach that milestone of double-digit wins is pretty incredible.

"To do it at a golf course with this legacy, this history, and hosted by the man himself Tiger Woods – it's a true honour, I can't really explain it."

Woods carded a two-over 73 on Sunday to finish equal 45th at one-under overall.

Jon Rahm rolled in a birdie on the 18th hole to claim a three-shot lead after the third day at the Genesis Invitational on Saturday, while Tiger Woods produced his best round of the tournament.

The Spaniard overtook halfway point leader Max Homa by carding a bogey-free six-under-par 65 on Saturday, taking him to 15-under overall at Riviera Country Club.

Rahm was part of a trio of players, alongside Keith Mitchell and Lee Hodges, one stroke behind Homa heading into the third round but moved into the lead buoyed by four birdies on his front nine.

Woods narrowly made the cut on Friday and backed that up with a three-under round for 67 that included an eagle on the first hole, his 10th of the round, with a brilliant approach setting up a tap-in putt.

The 47-year-old remains well back on the leaderboard at three-under overall but moved up 32 spots for the round.

Homa slipped from the lead with back-to-back bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes proving costly as he managed a round of two-under-par 69 to be 12-under overall.

Mitchell is one stroke behind him at 11-under, with Patrick Cantlay fourth on 10-under followed by Gary Woodland after his four-under-par 67 moved him up to nine-under overall.

There is a group of four players at seven-under overall ahead of the final day, including Denny McCarthy who shot the best round of the day with a seven-under-par 64 that included an eagle on the par-four 10th hole. He is tied with Collin Morikawa, Tom Hoge and Adam Svensson.

Max Homa is seeking his third title of the PGA Tour season after taking the outright lead into the weekend at the Genesis Invitational, while Tiger Woods also made the cut.

Homa followed his opening 64 with a three-under 68 on his second trip around Riviera Country Club, finishing his round at 10 under overall after a bogey on 18.

Currently ranked a career-high 12th in the world, Homa has a chance to break into the top-10 for the first time with another strong result.

Meanwhile, Woods' putter let him down as he posted a three over round, but despite three bogeys from his final four holes, he snuck in right on the cut-line at one over.

One stroke behind Homa at nine under are the trio of Jon Rahm, Keith Mitchell and Lee Hodges, with Hodges the only player to shoot a 66 or better on Friday.

Collin Morikawa is alone in fifth at eight under, Patrick Cantlay is the only player at seven under, while Rory McIlroy (six under) and Will Zalatoris (five under) also find themselves in the top-10.

World number one Scottie Scheffler is one further back at four under, and former world number one Jason Day clawed his way back into contention with a 67 to sit at three under.

The shot of the day came from world number six Xander Schauffele, who was two strokes outside the cut-line before a slam-dunk eagle on the par-five 17th, making it through on the number.

Half the field still need to complete their opening round, but Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin raced around with the early group to take a share of the lead into Friday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Taylor had a rollercoaster of a round, posting a one-over front-nine after an eagle, a double-bogey and a bogey, before flying home with six birdies on the back-nine to finish at five under.

He is joined by Canadian compatriot Hadwin as the only players to finish rounds of 66, but there is a strong chasing pack who were unable to finish that will look to snatch the round-one lead on Friday morning.

World number six Xander Schauffele is one stroke off the lead at four under, although he has finished his round, while joining him in a tie for third are former world number one Jason Day (through 10) and American Jim Herman (through 13).

The red-hot Jon Rahm will have his sights on the top, sitting at three under with five holes to play, as will both Max Homa and Keegan Bradley who are also at three under with six holes to play.

Major champion Matt Fitzpatrick is joined by Tony Finau, Sam Burns and Im Sung-jae in the group who completed one-under rounds, while Jordan Spieth posted an even-par 71.

Justin Thomas (one over through 12) will have a chance to still finish his first round under par, while Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay and Cameron Young will all be trying to fight their way back into contention after finishing two over.

Davis Thompson produced back-to-back eagles on his way to a two-stroke lead after opening with a 10-under 62 at the American Express in California on Thursday.

The unheralded 23-year-old American leads the way from a stacked field that includes 10 of the top 20 in the world.

Thompson set up his career-low round by shooting an eight-under-par 28 on his front nine, including eagles on both the fifth and sixth holes at the La Quinta Country Club, which is one of three courses being used as players also spread across the PGA West's Stadium Course and Nicklaus Tournament Course.

The American's performance tied the lowest front-nine score on the course, having made six of seven fairways and eight of nine greens.

Behind Thompson is a group of five players, including former world number one Jon Rahm who carded nine birdies and a bogey in his round of 64 on La Quinta. Rahm is tied with Sam Burns, Tyler Duncan, Matti Schmid and Taylor Montgomery at eight under.

Burns might have been outright second if not for a bogey on the 18th on the Stadium Course, having carded seven birdies on his front nine. The American made nine consecutive one-putts.

Nine players are a further stroke back at seven under after the first round, including Tokyo Olympics gold medalist and two-time major runner-up Xander Schauffele, who also shot an eagle on the fifth.

Among the pre-tournament favourites, Scottie Scheffler and Patrick Cantlay both shot four under on La Quinta, while Will Zalatoris managed three under on the Nicklaus Tournament Course. Tony Finau and Tom Kim carded rounds of three under at La Quinta.

Tom Kim took advantage of a disastrous final hole from Patrick Cantlay to secure the Shriners Children's Open title on Sunday with an overall score of 24 under.

Kim, 20, became the first player since Tiger Woods to win two PGA Tour events before their 21st birthday, and he did it after coming into Sunday's final round tied for the lead with Cantlay.

The two players atop the leaderboard exchanged the lead multiple times, with Cantlay birdieing the opening hole, before Kim closed out his front-nine with back-to-back birdies to make the turn with a two-stroke advantage.

Cantlay evened things up with back-to-back birdies of his own on 11 and 12, before Kim banked another pair of birdies on 13 and 14, only for Cantlay to level the playing field with two more on 15 and 16.

Heading onto the 72nd and final hole of the week tied at 24 under, Cantlay teed off first and put it into the coarse bushes off the side of the fairway. 

Instead of declaring it unplayable and taking a drop, he opted to try and play his way out, resulting in a botched first shot that traveled less than a yard, before putting his next shot in the water in a catastrophic meltdown.

Kim made no such mistake off the tee, finding the centre of the fairway before approaching safely onto the green and two-putting for the win, while Cantlay needed to sink a 36-foot putt for triple-bogey, tying for second at 21 under.

Speaking after the win, Kim highlighted his mistake-free play as the key to victory.

"I played really solid this week – I had no bogeys for 72 holes," he said. "I think I have to give big credit to Joe [Skovron], my caddy, he really kept me in it and we had a really good game-plan the week, and it paid off.

"I got very lucky on the 18th, I'm not going to lie. Patrick played awesome, and it was an honour to battle with him, and to come out on top, I feel very fortunate."

When asked if he was surprised by his early success on the PGA Tour, he said he is just enjoying the ride.

"I've worked really hard, and my team has worked really hard to get to this point," he said. "I'm just really grateful, and I'm very fortunate to have an opportunity like this. I'm having fun playing on the PGA Tour, it's awesome."

Finishing tied with Cantlay for second place at 21 under was Matthew NeSmith, and first-round leader Tom Hoge ended the week with some momentum as he posted a seven-under Sunday to shoot his way into a tie for fourth at 20 under with Mito Pereira and Kim Seong-hyeon.

Im Sung-jae was alone in seventh at 19 under, and Jason Day tied with Kim Si-woo for eighth, giving South Korea four of the top-10.

Patrick Cantlay carded a joint course record and career low 60 to move to grab a share of the lead with Tom Kim at the Shriners Children's Open with one day to go.

Cantlay, who had shot back-to-back 67s, tied the course record on the third day at Las Vegas' TPC at Summerlin with 11 birdies in his 11-under-par round.

The American world number four just fell shy of the elusive 59, missing with his birdie putt from just under 25 feet on the 18th hole.

Cantlay's 60 was his first on tour as a professional, having achieved the feat in 2011 as a 19-year-old amateur at the Travelers Championship.

Kim and Cantlay are three strokes clear on the leaderboard at 19-under overall, with halfway leader Mito Pereira back with Matthew NeSmith on 16 under.

The South Korean managed six birdies on the back nine to score an impressive nine-under-par 62 on Saturday.

Kim landed his approach on the 18th two feet from the hole to close out his round with birdie and earn the joint lead.

Pereira could only manage four birdies to lose his grip on the lead, while NeSmith had a strong eight-under round fueled by three birdies on the final four holes.

South Korean pair Im Sung-jae and Kim Seong-hyeon are next best on the leaderboard at 15 under.

Behind them is a group of five tied at 14 under, including Kim Si-woo and Aaron Rai, who carded a nine-under 62 on Saturday, with four birdies on his final five holes.

Mito Pereira tied for Friday's round of the day to shoot his way to the top of the leaderboard after two rounds at the Shriners Children's Open.

Chile's Pereira, who burst onto the scene last season when he led until the final hole at the PGA Championship, shot an eight-under 63 to move to 12 under through 36 holes at TPC Summerlin, posting nine birdies and one bogey.

The only other player to shoot better than 65 on Friday was Robby Shelton, who also enjoyed an eight-under round to climb to outright second at 11 under, birdieing his last hole of the day to elevate himself from the group at 10 under.

Tied for third at 10 under is the trio of Maverick McNealy, and South Korea's representatives at last month's Presidents Cup Tom Kim and Kim Si-woo.

Fellow International team member Cam Davis of Australia is at nine under, tied for sixth with Kevin Streelman and Chad Ramey, while some of the tournament favourites are one further back.

Max Homa and Patrick Cantlay were viewed as the best chances before the event, and they are within striking distance four shots off the pace at eight under, with both shooting back-to-back 67s.

After a strong first day, Im Sung-jae shot a 70 to lose some momentum and head into the weekend at seven under, where he is joined by first-round leader Tom Hoge, who backed up his opening 63 with a one-over 72.

Needing a score of four under to make the cut, rising Canadian Taylor Pendrith and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo snuck in right on the number, while America's Paul Hahn, Scotland's Russell Knox and Ireland's Seamus Power missed out by one.

After the first trip around TPC Summerlin on Thursday it is Tom Hoge alone atop the Shriners Children's Open leaderboard with an eight-under 63.

Hoge finished his bogey-free round with four birdies and two eagles, holing out from the fairway on the par-four seventh hole, before sinking a 33-foot eagle putt when he took on the water on the par-five 16th.

He leads by one stroke from the duo of Kim Si-woo and Maverick McNealy, who combined to shoot one bogey and 15 birdies to sit at seven under.

Kim is part of a strong South Korean contingent in the top-five, with Tom Kim, Kim Seong-hyeon and Im Sung-jae all part of an eight-way tie for fourth at six under.

Former world number one Jason Day headlines the next group at five under as he continues to climb back up the rankings, and Mito Pereira is at four under after bursting onto the scene last season by making the playoff at the PGA Championship.

Winner of the first event of the season and a strong performer at the Presidents Cup, Max Homa is also at four under, along with fellow United States team member Patrick Cantlay and International team representative Cam Davis.

Jordan Spieth and Max Homa capped off their excellent week's work with singles wins to help the United States secure the Presidents Cup by a final score of 17.5-12.5 at Quail Hollow.

Spieth was the only player to win in all five sessions, banking four victories while paired up with Justin Thomas before defeating Cam Davis 4 and 3 in Sunday's singles matchplay.

Despite the comfortable final score, it was Spieth who had to respond to early adversity after Davis won the first two holes, but after clawing back to even, the American rattled off four consecutive victorious holes on the back nine to pull away.

Thomas had a chance to equal Spieth with five wins for the week, but he ended up going down to Kim Si-woo as the South Korean won the 18th hole to finish 1up.

After Spieth, the only other American to finish the competition unbeaten was Homa, who played in three of the four pairs sessions before edging out Tom Kim for a 1up win in the singles.

Xander Schauffele finished 1up against Corey Conners to clinch overall victory for the US team at a time when five matches were still on the course.

In other results to tilt America's way, Tony Finau beat Taylor Pendrith 3 and 1, Patrick Cantlay had a 3 and 2 success over Adam Scott, and Collin Morikawa also won 3 and 2 against Mito Pereira.

However, it proved a highly competitive singles section of the event as the United States only narrowly edged it with six wins and a halved contest, as Sam Burns and Hideki Matsuyama fought out a stalemate.

The Internationals took five of the 12 matchups. Lee Kyoung-hoon was the most emphatic winner from his team, defeating Billy Horschel 3 and 1, while Sebastian Munoz upset world number one Scottie Scheffler 2 and 1 and Christiaan Bezuidenhout got the better of Kevin Kisner 2 and 1.

Im Sung-jae landed a 1up win versus Cameron Young after taking the lead on the 17th hole.

The United States have won nine consecutive editions of the Presidents Cup since a tie in 2003, with the International team's only triumph coming in 1998.

The Internationals have charged back into contention ahead of the final day of the Presidents Cup but still trail 11-7 at Quail Hollow in North Carolina.

USA had led 8-2 heading into Saturday's action that included four morning foursome matchups followed by four fourball contests, with Australia’s Cam Davis and South Korean Kim Joo-hyung starring for the under-dog International team.

The Internationals won two of the morning's foursome matchups and three of the fourball contests to make up major ground but will need win 8.5 points from the 12 on offer on the final day with singles to determine the winner.

If the International team win, it would be the greatest last day comeback in Presidents Cup history and their first victory since 1998 in Melbourne, the team's sole triumph.

"I'm almost in tears," Internationals captain Trevor Immelman said. "I'm so proud of these guys. We've fought so hard. We've had to be so patient."

"We’ve got a very long way to go. We know how tough the Americans are in singles. But today was a great day for us. This team has been through a lot."

Debutant Kim Joo-hyung had one of the moments of the day, sinking a 10-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole to clinch a 1up victory with Kim Si-woo against the previously unbeaten Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.

The South Korean emotionally reveled in victory after the putt, having holed a 54-foot eagle putt on the 11th hole. In a seesawing fourball contest, Schauffele also putted in from 37 feet on the 15th.

Davis, paired with compatriot Adam Scott, was crucial with late putts in their 1up fourball victory over Sam Burns and Billy Horschel.

On the par-five 16th, Davis sunk an 11-foot eagle putt to win the hole, before making a 14-foot birdie putt to claim the 17th. Davis backed that up with a nine-foot birdie putt to tie 18 and secure the win.

The unbeaten Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas defeated Hideki Matsuyama and Taylor Pendrith 4 and 3 for USA's only fourballs win, while Im Sung-jae and Sebastian Munoz never trailed as they got past Tony Finau and Kevin Kisner 3 and 2.

In the morning's foursomes, Lee Kyoung-hoon and Kim Joo-hyung defeated Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns 2 and 1 and Adam Scott teamed up with Hideki Matsuyama to knock off Cameron Young and Collin Morikawa 3 and 2.

USA got victories as Spieth and Thomas won against Im and Corey Conners 4 and 3 and Finau and Max Homa beating Kim Si-woo and Davis 4 and 3. Spieth and Thomas are the third duo in Presidents Cup history to go undefeated in the first four rounds.

"We're in a good spot," USA captain Davis Love said. "We have a lot of guys hitting it good. They just made more putts than we did.

"We always feel like we're at an advantage in the singles. We've had some great singles days in the past."

Friday was the second day of The Presidents Cup, and the second day in a row the United States team came away with four of the five points on offer to lead 8-2 in the best-of-30 competition.

After foursomes was the format on Thursday, things moved to four-ball for the second trip around Quail Hollow, meaning all four golfers in their matchup play each hole, with only the best score from each duo counting towards their score.

Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele – the reigning champions from the PGA Tour's only team event during the season, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans – showed no signs of slowing down after their blistering 6 and 5 win in the opening round, again delivering the biggest margin of victory for the day.

They defeated the duo of Hideki Matsuyama and Tom Kim 3 and 2, and the International team needed to mount a comeback to even survive that long as the United States were 5up through eight holes.

Kim was responsible for all three winning holes for his duo, with birdies on the 12th, 14th and 15th, while Cantlay and Schauffele evenly split their six triumphant holes with three apiece.

The only other fixture to not go the full 18 was Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas' 2 and 1 win against Australian duo Cam Davis and Adam Scott.

It was another hot start for the United States, with back-to-back birdies from Thomas and one from Spieth putting them 3up through eight holes, and although Davis and Scott both won a hole each down the back-nine, they were never able to bring the margin to within one.

Things were much more competitive in Max Homa and Billy Horschel's 1up win against Canadians Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith, as the Americans picked up the lead with one hole to play.

Team United States took a 2up lead into the back-nine, which was quickly erased by Conners with two birdies on the 11th and 13th, leaving things tied until the 17th, where Homa delivered a clutch birdie to secure the win.

There were no wins for the Internationals on Friday, but they collected two half-points as the duos of Mito Pereira and Christiaan Bezuidenhout as well as Im Sung-jae and Sebastian Munoz held on to salvage something from the day.

Im and Munoz had a tough matchup against world number one Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, but it was Burns doing most of the heavy lifting for the United States, winning three of his team's four holes.

Munoz won three of the Internationals' four holes, including a par on the 17th as both Americans bogeyed to even things up.

Lastly, Pereira and Bezuidenhout were leading through 13 holes, before Cameron Young tied it and collected another half-point for his duo with Kevin Kisner.

Saturday will see teams contest both foursomes and four-ball rounds, before the competition moves to singles play on Sunday.

It's no surprise that at the end of this latest PGA Tour season it was Rory McIlroy ultimately hosting the FedEx Cup, considering the statistically dominant campaign the Northern Irishman put together.

Though his three-win season might not appear at the top of his career highlights - the major championship triumphs in 2012 and 2014 may never be matched - it nevertheless culminated in one of the best statical campaigns of his heralded career.

After lifting the FedEx Cup for the third time, the first player in Tour history to do so, McIlroy capped off a season that saw him earn his fourth scoring average title, at 68.67, the only player on the PGA Tour to finish with a sub-69 average (the overall average for the 2021-22 season was 71.092).

Only Vijay Singh (2003) and Tiger Woods (eight different times) have matched McIlroy with a season-long average below 68.7.

McIlroy's six-shot comeback over Scottie Scheffler at the Tour Championship also cemented the 33-year-old’s fourth season of at least three wins, as he also jumpstarted his campaign with a victory at the CJ Cup before claiming the RBC Canadian Open midway through the year.

"I'm back to playing the golf that I'm used to playing, and the golf that I know that I can play," McIlroy said prior to the FedEx St. Jude Championship. "COVID was a weird time for everyone, and then coming out of it and going into the 2021 season, with my swing where it was, I was trying to change a couple of things and was going down a path I realised wasn't the path for me. [I'm] coming back out of that and now getting back to playing the golf I know I can play."

The late-season rise was in no doubt due to McIlroy's impressive resurgence across several aspects of his game. After ending The Masters ranked next-to-last among 209 TOUR players in average proximity from 50 to 125 yards (24 feet, one inch), McIlroy went on a tear that saw him close out the season with an average of 14 feet, one inch, best among all players with more than 30 attempts in that span.

But that wasn’t the only area where he’s upped his play. McIlroy ranked No. 131 in scrambling percentage last season, only to finish 30th this year, while also improving more than 50 spots in Strokes Gained: Around the Green (63rd in 2020-21 to 12th this season). Perhaps most importantly, the 22-time PGA Tour winner was 16th for Strokes Gained: Putting per round, after he finished 66th in 2021 and 122nd in 2019-20.

McIlroy ended the season ranked inside the top-50 in all four primary Strokes Gained categories (off-the-tee, approach the green, around the green and putting), only the second time he's done that, joining the 2018-19 season. That season he also won the TOUR Championship and RBC Canadian Open, along with The Players Championship.

"This year feels very similar to the way I played in 2019," he said. "It's a carbon copy in terms of the consistency and the numbers and the strokes gained numbers, but my finishes in the majors have been better and that's been – that's been a real positive looking ahead into next year and the future."

CANTLAY REPEATS

Before McIlroy hoisted the PGA Tour's ultimate prize, all eyes were on Patrick Cantlay for a potential repeat.

Last season's FedEx Cup champion was primed to go back-to-back after he became the first player to successfully defend a Playoffs event since their 2007 inception. At the BMW Championship, the 30-year-old birdied the 17th at Wilmington Country Club to hold off Scott Stallings in a one-shot victory, his second win at the event in as many years.

A year ago, Cantlay survived in a six-hole playoff at Maryland's Caves Valley Golf Club to win the BMW Championship, before sealing the FedEx Cup with a one-shot win over Jon Rahm.

"I think every time I've tried to defend, I don't think I've been able to do it, but it's something that you definitely circle on your calendar as something you want to do," Cantlay said. "These golf courses reminded me a lot of each other, and I was glad not to go six holes in a playoff."

Much like a season ago, it was largely the putter that lifted Cantlay to a post-season victory. Over the last two FedEx Cup Playoffs, Cantlay is +18.39 in total Strokes Gained: Putting, the most of any player.

The BMW Championship was a microcosm of that, as Cantlay was ranked 49th of 67 players in the third round, losing 1.493 strokes to the field. But after a late-night putting session, the Californian ranked 10th in Sunday’s final round, gaining 1.628 strokes on the field. He was a perfect 10-for-10 on Sunday putting inside 3 feet, after missing one in 13 attempts the day before. He was 16-for-17 from inside 10 feet on Sunday and just 15 for 20 on Saturday.

ZALATORIS BREAKS THROUGH

Fans have been anxiously awaiting Will Zalatoris’s first trip to the PGA Tour winner's circle, after heart-aching playoff losses this year at the Farmers Insurance Open and PGA Championship.

Viewers finally got their wish in the first leg of the FedExCup Playoffs, as the young 26-year-old poured in a clutch par at the last to force extra holes with Sepp Straka. He ultimately outlasted the Austrian on the third playoff hole.

"It's kind of hard to say 'about time' when it's your second year on Tour, but about time," Zalatoris joked. "Obviously this was a grind considering the start that I had. I love this golf course, I played well here last year. Considering all the close finishes that I've had this year, to finally pull it off, it means a lot."

The budding superstar led the field in both Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green (+1.93) and Tee-to-Green (+2.35), becoming just the second player to lead both at the FedEx St. Jude Championship (Dustin Johnson, 2020).

All the more impressive was that he finished the first round at one over, the highest score to par after the opening round by a winner at the FedEx St Jude Championship. The previous worst opening round by a winner? Vijay Singh, who was one under after 18 holes in 2008.

Zalatoris was tied for 86th after the first round, marking the lowest position by a winner after the opening round of the playoffs (McIlroy previously held the honor, sitting at T67 after the opening round of the 2016 Dell Technologies Championship). 

Scottie Scheffler delivered a storming finish to his third round at the Tour Championship to carry a six-shot lead into the final 18 holes at East Lake.

After nearby lightning strikes caused play to be suspended on Saturday, world number one Scheffler returned re-energised on Sunday morning to grasp control of the leaderboard.

Xander Schauffele had pulled to just one stroke behind Scheffler, but the leader made his big move with four birdies in his closing six holes when play resumed.

Scheffler had been level par for his third round through 12 holes, which is the point at which he had to leave the course the previous day, but Sunday's surge carried the 26-year-old to a 66 and 23 under par for the tournament.

Playing partner Schauffele could not muster a response to Scheffler, and he made bogey at the long par-four 14th to see the gap widen, having to settle for a level-par 70.

Rory McIlroy birdied 17 and 18 to complete a seven-under 63 and join Schauffele in a tie for second place through 54 holes, on 17 under par, with South Korea's Im Sung-jae and American Patrick Cantlay one shot further back.

The final event of the FedEx Cup sees the winner of the Tour Championship pocket staggering prize money of $18million, with the runner-up taking $6.5million.

Scheffler began the tournament on 10 under, under the unusual format that saw a staggered start based on performances in the previous FedEx Cup events.

He was the leader of the series standings so was duly rewarded, with second-placed Cantlay starting the week on eight under.

Saturday's third round of the Tour Championship was suspended due to lightning strikes in the area, but not before plenty of action took place, with Xander Schauffele pulling to within one stroke of leader Scottie Scheffler.

It is not just Schauffele who has given himself a chance either, as he was the only player within six strokes of Scheffler after 36 holes, but there are now eight players within that range.

While Scheffler did not drop any shots – at even par through 12 holes before the weather hit – he is the only player in the top-17 who was not under par on Saturday, with one birdie and one bogey to remain at 19 under.

Schauffele had chances to go past his playing partner, but inconsistency has held him back, with three bogeys to go with his four birdies as he is now at 18 under.

He had a four-stroke buffer to third place entering the day, but that has been cut in half as South Korea's Im Sung-jae is putting together another strong round, four-under through 14 holes to sit alone at 16 under.

Rory McIlroy is one further back – the only player at 15 under – and he has posted four birdies, one eagle and one bogey in his round to be five under with two holes to play.

A star-studded group is tied for fifth at 14 under, consisting of Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay and Sepp Straka, with Straka and Thomas both enjoying six-under rounds.

The only player to be better than six under on Saturday was Hideki Matsuyama, who shot a seven-under 63 to take sole possession of ninth place at 13 under. He had eight birdies, with his only bogey coming on the 10th hole.

Max Homa is in the group tied for 10th at 12 under, Collin Morikawa is at 11 under, and J.T. Poston is at 10 under, with the rest of the field at least 10 shots off the lead.