Tour Championship Recap: McIlroy Rebounds at Right Time

Rory McIlroy stood with one trophy in his left hand, another in his right, a huge smile in between the sterling silver and the crystal.



He had won the Tour Championship, worth $1.53 million, to capture the FedEx Cup championship, worth a whopping $10 million, and tastefully answered a reporter's question by saying he was fortunate enough that even that much money is secondary to him now. No, it was the smile, or rather what the smile signified, that mattered most.



McIlroy ended a disappointing 2015-16 season, one that had seen him to continue to tumble from his former perch as the world's top golfer, about as best as he could have. He won two of the four playoff events, including the season-ender Sunday in a riveting four-hole playoff with gallant Ryan Moore.



The victory earlier this month at the Deutsche Bank Championship moved the Northern Irishman from the ghastly position of No. 5 in the world up to No. 3. And while that's where he numerically still sits after winning at East Lake, he's crept within close range of No. 2 Dustin Johnson.



Little by little the No. 1 golfer became the former No. 1, first passed by Jordan Spieth, then Jason Day and then Johnson and Henrik Stenson. McIlroy embarrassingly shot 77 while paired with Spieth in the third round of the Masters, then missed the cut at the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship.



At 27, was he done, at least done winning majors? That, we still don't know. Yes, he ended up 10th at Augusta and fifth at the Open Championship. But he never really contended, instead adding two more backdoor top-10s to his ledger.



McIlroy's putting needed to get better, and it obviously has.



Only seven months until the Masters.



MONDAY BACKSPIN



Jason Day


The world No. 1 is still No. 1 after withdrawing from the Tour Championship during the second round with recurring back issues. If you are drafting soon, Day will be pricey and a real gamble. Athletes with a history of injury don't exactly overcome that as they get older. He surely could put it together for a week to win a major in 2017. But it would be surprising for Day to be No. 1, or maybe even top 3, at this time next season.



Ryan Moore


Moore didn't win the tournament, despite his chances. But he received a huge honor shortly thereafter by being named the final member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team. The last month and a half, he's been the best American golfer, with a win at the John Deere and now this runner-up. Moore had a very successful season, one that hopefully you took advantage of. But he's is not at the elite level, and it would hardly be surprising if he took a step back next season, when he'll be 35.



Kevin Chappell


On the other hand, it sure seems as if Chappell will continue rising, and eventually get his first tour win. Chappell was the first man out of the three-man playoff on Sunday, but it goes down as a second-place showing, his fourth of the season. He began it ranked 105th and ended it 27th. For those drafting soon for 2016-17 or even for daily gamers, Chappell is more of a sure thing to stay at this level than Moore.



Paul Casey


We'd like to think that Casey has turned a corner in his career, with injuries and personal issues behind him. And that this recent stretch will be more the norm than a hot streak. No, he won't continue with top-5s week after week after week -- Casey followed up runners-up at the Deutsche Bank and BMW with a solo fourth at East Lake –- but he'll be the golfer he was the past couple years instead of the one nearly invisible from 2010-14.



Dustin Johnson


Johnson had the FedEx Cup and the $10 million in his grasp, but simply had a bad day on Sunday. He shot the worst score in the field, a not-that-horrendous 3-over 73, but it dropped him into a tie for sixth. No matter, Johnson's breakthrough season with a major win, a WGC win and a playoff win surely will land him Player of the Year honors. And he'll continue to be a top-5 force on tour.



Jason Dufner


Like Casey, Dufner rebounded from a barren stretch of his career to get a win in 2015-16, and his tie for eighth at East Lake left him 19th in the season-ending point standings. It might be a bit much to expect such a lofty finish from Dufner next season, but it's not out of the question. He certainly could be a valuable piece to most any lineup.



Jordan Spieth


Two wins, a second, a third and eight top-10s … and it all adds up to a disappointing season, culminating with T17 at the Tour Championship. That's what happens when your previous season featured five wins and two majors. So where do we slot Spieth for next season? Near the top, with results somewhere in between the last two seasons. He'll learn from his worldwide offseason cash grab last fall and winter, and be better prepared for 2016-17. But he still needs to hit the ball straighter off the tee.



Phil Mickelson


Oh, Phil. Mickelson shot 74-72-69-66 last week, no doubt leaving him feeling good about his game heading to the Ryder Cup. But he still finished 22nd in a 30-man field. We're surprised Mickelson still stands No. 15 in the world –- that's really hard to do when you haven't won in more than three years. And we suspect it will catch up with Mickelson next season, which incidentally will begin just two weeks after Hazeltine when he co-headlines with Tigers Woods at the Safeway Open.



Patrick Reed


Since the U.S. Open in June, Reed has taken only two weeks off, one in July and the other when the tour was dark the week before the Tour Championship. His results from the four playoff events read like this: 1, 5, 13, and now 24th at East Lake. Certainly a great month, but we've wondered for some time how successful he can be with such a packed schedule. Reed says it will continue, as after the Ryder Cup he'll head to Europe to try to keep his card there. We can't recall a top-level golfer ever playing so much, and certainly not playing so much and maintaining success.



Kevin Kisner


Kisner qualified for East Lake, but let's see him do it again. He got there via a win and a runner-up –- both last November, for goodness sakes. Four of his six top-10s came by January. The other two top-10s were T10. For calendar 2016, Kisner's largely been awful. But such is the wrap-around schedule that allowed him to get to the Tour Championship, at which he finished 26th.



Jimmy Walker


Walker was 28th at East Lake, continuing a stretch of all or nothing. He won the PGA Championship after missing the cut at the Open Championship. He was third at the Deutsche Bank after missing consecutive cuts. Walker is on the Ryder Cup and, while of course he could have a good week (anyone could), he appears to be one of the U.S. team's weak links. We don't have tremendous faith in his game, fantasy wise, for the coming months.