Bill Haas emerged from East Lake to win the Tour Championship, the FedEx Cup and a US$ 11,500,000 payday in a dramatic play-off with Hunter Mahan in Atlanta.
Haas completed a staggering recovery at the second play-off hole. He found a bunker with his tee-shot and then water with his second, but a shallow enough lie allowed him to play the ball from its resting place and he incredibly pitched to within three feet and halved the hole in four.
Back to 18 they went and Mahan found the same greenside bunker for the second time in the play-off, then allowed his escape to run 15 feet past the hole.
Haas, putting from the back fringe of the green, rolled his ball just four feet past and, after Mahan missed, calmly found the centre of the cup to take the spoils.
World Number One Luke Donald had his dreams of a FedEx Cup-Race to Dubai double dashed as a one under 69 left him a shot behind the top two in a tie for third.
Haas admitted at the post-round presentation he had no idea upon holing his final putt that victory brought with it the FedEx Cup bounty.
He said: "I honestly didn't know! Being 25th, all I could do was hope.
"Webb Simpson played the best golf in the play-off series but it worked out for me the way the points were."
On his miracle escape at the 17th, he added: "The second shot, I actually thought I hit a pretty decent shot, I just overhit it a little and maybe pushed it a bit.
"I got an unbelievably fortunate lie, it was basically a bunker shot and it was all or nothing. There was a bit of luck involved - I got some spin on it, I didn't know that - I was very lucky.
"I hung in there, I was very fortunate and it's pretty unbelievable."
Haas was three shots off the lead at the start of the day, but hit three birdies in a two under par front nine.
Further birdies at the 13th and 15th meant he briefly led, but the closing holes again proved costly. Having finished five-five on Saturday to drop three shots, Haas made two bogeys in the final three holes to finish eight under.
Mahan made a fine up-and-down at the par three last to match that tally, having faltered at times on the final day after sharing the lead with Aaron Baddeley overnight.
The pair both began with five successive pars but Baddeley sent his tee shot at the sixth right into the water and had to recover well to drop just one shot.
Mahan found the rough to the left of the green, failed to hole a testing seven footer and also had to settle for bogey.
That left Korea's K J Choi sharing the lead at eight under after he chipped in at the fifth hole, while Haas was just one shot back.
Baddeley birdied the eighth but dropped further shots at nine and 11 and never really recovered. Another bogey came at the 16th and, although he immediately recovered that shot, his two-over round left him one shot off the summit in a three-way tie at seven under.
That trio also included Choi, who birdied the 15th and 17th but had left himself too much to do after a double-bogey six at the eighth and further dropped shots at the 11th and 13th, which sandwiched a birdie.
England's Donald was the third member of the group as he left it too late before birdieing three of the last five holes.
He finished fourth in the FedEx Cup standings and was left dreaming of what might have been. He said: "Every shot counts, especially in this last tournament. At least I gave myself a chance with that birdie at the last."
Haas and Mahan were fighting for top spot, though, and the latter bogeyed the 13th but hit back at the long 15th and his brittle short game held together to force the play-off.
It was not to be, though, as Haas made a splash at the 17th before taking home the sport's biggest paycheque.
