(CNN)Patrick Cantlay claimed the biggest triumph of his golf vocation to day arsenic helium won the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup title, which comes with a handsome $15 cardinal prize.
Cantlay's final-round 69 astatine Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club connected Sunday saw him decorativeness 1 changeable up of Jon Rahm astatine the PGA Tour's season-ending event, wrapping up the FedEx Cup title successful the process.
It comes arsenic Cantlay has deed a affluent vein of signifier successful caller weeks.
His nerveless putting and calm demeanor connected the people person earned him the moniker "Patty Ice" among fans, and Cantlay erstwhile much lived up to that nickname connected Sunday arsenic helium held disconnected a situation from Rahm.
"Self-belief's a large happening doing what I do," 29-year-old Cantlay told CNN Sport's Don Riddell.
"You're each unsocial retired there. You person to person that self-belief to beryllium capable to travel done erstwhile it matters ... You don't get the accidental to triumph tournaments that often. It's dissimilar the different sports successful that regard."
'Focus and fastener in'
Cantlay led the FedEx Cup standings aft overcoming a tense, six-hole playoff against Bryson DeChambeau astatine the BMW Championship past month.
He entered the last circular of the Tour Championship with a two-shot pb implicit satellite No. 1 Rahm, which was chopped to a azygous changeable passim the day.
Cantlay bogeyed the fifth, ninth and 17th holes to spell with birdies connected the second, sixth, 16th and -- crucially -- 18th, wherever a superb robust changeable took him onto the greenish and wrong 12 feet of the hole.
Rahm, who finished the tourney with a bogey-free round, matched Cantlay with a birdie connected the 18th, meaning helium remained 1 changeable adrift.
"I conscionable told myself to absorption and fastener successful -- that's what I told myself each day," said Cantlay, who has six PGA Tour victories to his name, 4 of which person travel this year.
"I truly did a bully occupation of staying contiguous and focusing arsenic hard arsenic I could connected each shot. That's what play is -- not getting up of yourself and conscionable locking successful and giving each changeable your afloat attention.
"I'm truly arrogant of myself for doing that and doing that today, and not lone today, but passim the full week."
Breakthrough year
Cantlay's FedEx Cup ranking meant helium started the Tour Championship connected 10 nether par -- 4 shots up of Rahm -- and helium ne'er relinquished his presumption astatine the apical of the standings implicit the people of the 4 days.
He joins a distinguished database of golfers to triumph successful the season-long championship, including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.
"I deliberation I'm a feline that lets my clubs bash the talking ... I don't accidental a lot, I don't grandstand a lot," said Cantlay.
"But I emotion play and I emotion competing connected the biggest signifier against the champion players. I'm conscionable grateful to beryllium wherever I americium and doing what I do."
On his mode to the top, the Californian has experienced immoderate acheronian times, including a superior backmost wounded that forced him to miss 3 years of competitory play and astir ended his career.
Now, however, his stars look to beryllium aligning.
"I deliberation I'll gully connected these experiences for a agelong time," said Cantlay.
"I'm going to person tons of tournaments hopefully successful my vocation and I'm going to beryllium successful akin situations successful the aboriginal that I was this week and past week.
"Drawing connected those affirmative memories and remembering what it felt similar to travel done connected the clutch -- I deliberation that's large for maine going forward."
The FedEx Cup is the richest purse successful golf. While Cantlay took location $15 million, Rahm earned $5 cardinal arsenic the runner-up and Kevin Na, who finished 3rd up of Justin Thomas connected 16-under-par, $4 million.
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