It came as a shock but Adam Scott's second win of the year has catapulted him to a career-high No.2 in the world golf rankings, behind only Tiger Woods.
Scott started the final round at The Barclays, the first of four US PGA Tour playoff series events, six shots off the pace but closed with a sublime bogey-free five-under 66 to snatch a one-shot victory.
The Masters champion finished at 11-under par well before a host of other contenders who failed to reel him in at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey.
After showing the best consistency in the majors over the past two years, 33-year-old Scott had declared before the tournament that his year would be a waste if he did not back up his Augusta National triumph with another victory to validate his hot form.
He finished one clear of world No.1 Woods (69), US Open champion Justin Rose (68), Canadian Graham DeLaet (65) and American Gary Woodland (73), all of whom looked like potential winners throughout an exciting Sunday.
Woods battled a bad back all week but fought to the death, making birdie on the 17th and then going within a ball revolution of birdie on the last.
Rose three-putted the final green for bogey from 25-feet after trying to take the outright lead with an aggressive first putt and Woodland had 10-footers to join the lead and force a playoff on the last three holes but missed them all.
British Open champion Phil Mickelson (65) and fellow Americans Jim Furyk (67) and D.A. Points (69) shared sixth at nine-under.
The win also moved Scott to second on the season-long points list with three play-off events remaining, sewing up a berth in the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta where his chances of winning the $US10 million bonus for being season champion have improved dramatically.
"It's pretty sweet. To win the first playoff event really sets you up for a great run and I'm excited about the next few weeks now," Scott said.
"I'm looking forward to getting into East Lake, hopefully having a chance to be a FedEx Champion."
The win is Scott's 21st worldwide and 10th on the US PGA Tour, the first time since 2004 he has had multiple wins in the US in a season.
He is also now just the third player in history, behind Woods and Mickelson, to have won a major, a World Golf Championship event, the Players Championship and a playoff series event.
"It's big," Scott said.
"I've really been trying hard and trying hard not to get frustrated when it has not happened when I've been in contention.
"So this does definitely mean a lot, to have multiple wins (in a season) is a pretty good accomplishment.
"I'm trying to jump off that springboard and win more regularly and I think I'm going about it the right way."
While Scott's Sunday surge was a beauty, it was his final six holes on Saturday where he stayed in the tournament.
At four-over on his round through 12 holes in round three and back at three-under for the tournament the Queenslander dug deep and closed with three birdies.
"I was playing like a dog after 12 holes yesterday, it was horrible," he admitted.
"But there you go. You're never out of it and you never know what can happen."
While they didn't threaten the leaders on Sunday Greg Chalmers (-2, T37) and Stuart Appleby (-1, T41) did just enough to push inside the top 100 on the points list to qualify for the Deutsche Bank Championship starting on Thursday.
Chalmers moved to 93rd and Appleby to 96th but it is the end of the road for Aaron Baddeley (even, T43) John Senden (+4, T62), Geoff Ogilvy (+5, 65th) and Steven Bowditch (cut) who weren't able to finish high enough.
Baddeley's finish was hard to watch, as he bogeyed the final three holes to shoot 77 and miss next week by a single place at 101st.
Jason Day was the next best Australian behind Scott at four-under in a tie for 25th, leaving him at 16th on the points list while Matt Jones rounded out the Australian tilt at three-under in a tie for 33rd leaving him 37th in the standings heading to the Deutsche Bank Championship.
