2014 Deutsche Bank Championship results: Chris Kirk outpaces Rory McIlroy, Billy Horschel

Chris Kirk continued the Georgia dominance on the PGA Tour on Monday, winning his second event of the PGA Tour season and rocketing into the No. 1 position of the FedEx Cup standings. Kirk opened the Deutsche Bank Championship with a 2-over round of 73 and it looked like he would be going home early from TPC Boston. He turned it around quick and in a big way, shooting 66-64-66 over the final three days to win his third PGA Tour event and the biggest check of his career, a $1.44M payday.

Kirk’s final-round 66 started with two birdies in his first four holes, and he quickly joined the battle chasing fellow Dawg Russell Henley. It was Kirk, and not playing partner Rory McIlroy, who became the threat for the come-from-behind win. The putter was the one club that did most of the work this week for Kirk. He had an enormous strokes gained-putting advantage, and that persisted on the back nine. He rolled in a 22-footer for birdie at the 13th, and then poured in another one from 13 feet at the 16th for additional cushion at 15-under.

Kirk has been one of the most consistent players on the Tour all season, starting with his win back home in Georgia at the McGladrey Classic. That victory came last fall during the new wraparound portion of the schedule, but in the intervening months, he posted 10 top-25 finishes and missed only two cuts in 25 starts. This win not only puts him at No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings, but also opens up the possibility of a last-minute addition to the Ryder Cup roster as a captain’s pick.

The day started with the promise of a high-profile shootout between the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Russell Henley and Billy Horschel. But by the turn, it became evident that Kirk would at least share the lead throughout the afternoon, while Henley, Horschel and Geoff Ogilvy popped up and chased as well. Ogilvy started the week as the last man in the field and ranked 100th in the FedEx Cup standings. Only the top 70 would make it through to Denver, so Ogilvy had a tough road just to have a chance to keep his season alive. But back-to-back rounds of 65 puts him at No. 24 in the standings. He’s not only safe for Denver, but now in position to get to the FedEx Cup finale in Atlanta the next week.

The player with the most realistic shot of catching, and even passing Kirk, was Horschel. He stood one shot back with two birdie holes ahead of him at the 17th and 18th. He made par at a tricky pin position on the 17th and then bombed his drive down the 18th fairway to set up a potential eagle chance at the last. The drive went 318 yards, according to PGA Tour’s shot tracker, and a missed putt by Kirk up on the green resulted in a par that left it wide open for Horschel.

Standing in the fairway, he had a smooth 211 yards to the hole. It’s not the easiest distance, but definitely manageable for a PGA Tour pro and the pin location was open. What happened was one of the more ghastly outcomes of the season. Horschel completely chunked it, making what he called his worst swing of his week. The ball barely made it to the front of a hazard. The tracker had it around 167 yards, a good 50 yards short of the target.

And that’s how you go from having an eagle or good birdie chance to tie the lead, to removing all hope before you ever even get to the green.

While Kirk cruised to the win, his playing partner, who was the favorite to win his second DBC, sputtered to a final-round 70 and settled for fifth place. Rory caught some bad bounces during his final round, but he was also sloppy at different points and threw some shots away. A mess in the bunker at the No. 6 resulted in a second straight bogey that put a huge dent in his chances.

That was the beginning of the end for McIlroy, who chucked his ball into a pond in frustration. He remains in second in the FEC standings, but the one ahead of him now switches from Hunter Mahan to Kirk.

Here are the final results from the week at TPC Boston: