FedEx Cup champion Cantlay enjoying battle with elite after pipping Rahm to monster cheque

Patrick Cantlay said it is all about the challenge of battling golf's elite to win tournaments and not money after claiming the $15million FedEx Cup play-offs title with his dramatic Tour Championship success.

Cantlay earned a mammoth payday at East Lake, where the American outlasted world number one Jon Rahm by just one stroke at the PGA Tour's season-ending Tour Championship event on Sunday.

The 29-year-old Cantlay, who entered the season finale as the leader at 10 under per the new FedEx Cup format, carded a one-under-par 69 to hold off Rahm following his flawless final-round 68.

Cantlay, teeing off with a two-shot advantage, weathered his own nerves late on, birdieing two of his final three holes, having opened the door following a bogey on the 17th.

He had a one-stroke lead going to the par-five 18th hole and hit a clutch six-iron from 218 yards to within just 12 feet to secure a dramatic wire-to-wire victory and the biggest triumph of his career.

What a way to finish the season Thank you all for the support, going to try to soak it all in now! pic.twitter.com/PF8e0gMAAa

— Patrick Cantlay (@patrick_cantlay) September 6, 2021

Cantlay became the first player with four or more victories in a PGA Tour season since Justin Thomas in 2016-17.

"As silly as it sounds, the money is not what's really important for me. The money is not what drives me to play this game," Cantlay told reporters.

"Winning golf tournaments, playing golf under pressure, and hitting quality golf shots under the gun, I mean, that's why I practice and that's why I practiced my whole life, and that's the best feeling in the world, is winning golf tournaments for me. So the money is just a consequence of that."

Cantlay added: "I think the guys that I play with; I think the guys on Tour know who I am and I think they know the kind of golf that I play.

"The respect that I get from those guys and being able to compete against those guys, that's why I do what I do, and so I'm not going to get too caught up in all the other stuff but I will tell you I'm very excited to have a lot of those guys on my side in the next couple weeks in the next event I play. I'm very much looking forward to The Ryder Cup."

After falling short, Rahm said: "I gave it my all. It wasn't enough. But it is what it is. I get to go home to my beautiful wife and family and rest up a little bit.

"The year is not over. We have a couple big events coming up and a couple big ones on the European Tour."