Steve DiMeglio

USA TODAY Sports

ATLANTA – Billy Horschel will soon become a father for the first time.

He can set up one heck of a trust fund.

In outplaying world No. 1 Rory McIlroy in a tense Sunday pairing and holding off the rest of the field on an unseasonably cool day in Hotlanta, Horschel won The Tour Championship by Coca-Cola, the finale of the FedExCup Playoffs.

Riding a scalding putter that hasn't delivered a three-putt in 175 consecutive holes and knocking in a critical 30-footer for par on the 16th hole to maintain his one-stroke lead, Horschel won for the second consecutive week and captured the third PGA Tour title of his career.

With a final-round 2-under-par 68 at East Lake Golf Club — his record-setting 12th consecutive round in the 60s in the playoffs — Horschel finished at 11 under and defeated McIlroy and Jim Furyk by three shots.

Horschel's payday? A cool $11.44 million, $1.44 for winning his first Tour Championship and a $10-million bonus for winning the FedExCup.

He started the playoffs in 69th place.

"I'm on cloud nine. It's unbelievable," said Horschel, whose wife, Brittany, is expected to deliver a baby girl within two weeks. "The year I had, I wasn't sure this was going to happen, but I kept believing, everyone on my team kept believing in me and just kept my head up high.

"I'm a positive guy. I always see things glass half-full, and it turned out for the best, and I can't be more thrilled. To cap the year off like this has been pretty unbelievable. ... I was able to rise to the occasion and get the job done."

McIlroy's chances started to set sail after he dumped his tee shot with a 5-iron into the water on the sixth hole and made double-bogey 5. He then made three consecutive bogeys around the turn before finishing with three birdies in his last four holes to shoot 71. Furyk shot 69 for his fourth runner-up finish this season. He hasn't won in 92 starts since capturing the 2010 Tour Championship here at East Lake.

Chris Kirk (68), Justin Rose (69) and Jason Day (69) finished in a tie for fourth, four shots back.

Horschel, 27, wasn't shy in talking about how much winning more than $11 million would mean to him and his family. Accepting both the hardware for The Tour Championship and the FedExCup, the impact of that kind of money sank in.

"From what I've heard, kids are very expensive, so the more money I can make, the better," said Horschel, who had made a little more than $4.5 million in his career before this season. His first full season the PGA Tour was 2011. "But I love (Brittany) to death, and I'm sure she's going crazy and hopefully she's not going into labor right now. But you know, it's just unbelievable, everything that's happened the last two weeks, and especially having a kid on the way.

"I'm not sure life can be better than this."

Nobody's golf life was better than McIlroy when he won four tournaments this summer, including two majors. But now he needs a week off to recharge for the Ryder Cup.

Horschel, however, who has gone T2-1-1 in his three last starts, will not be playing in the Ryder Cup, which begins Sept. 26. Tom Watson made his three captain's picks the day after the Deutsche Bank Championship, where Horschel finished tied for second and before he won the BMW Championship. Horschel has no qualms with being left off the team.

"I'll be supportive of the U.S. team, and even with this extra win, I still don't feel like I deserve to be on the team," Horschel said. "I haven't played good enough this year. I haven't played good enough over a two-year period to be on the team, and I understand that. I'm not upset with that.

" ... And Tom texted me earlier in the week and I said, 'Hey, I'm fully behind you. So hopefully the team can go over there and bring back the Ryder Cup trophy, because it's been too long since we've had it in our hands."