ATLANTA — With the biggest round of his career, Brandt Snedeker won something far more valuable than money Sunday.

He proved to himself he could beat the best in the world.

Snedeker knew his best chance to be the FedEx Cup champion was to win the Tour Championship, no simple task with East Lake as tough as ever and Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods going after the same prize.

Snedeker was the only player in the last five groups to break par.

He answered the final challenge with three big birdies on the back nine, building such a big lead that his final tee shot sailed into the grandstands to the left of the 18th green and it didn’t even matter. Snedeker still closed with a 2-under 68 for a three-shot win in the Tour Championship, and a $10 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup.

But this was never about money.

“I think it solidifies what I already know,” Snedeker said. “I think when I play my best golf, my best golf is some of the best in the world. I’ve never had more confidence in myself than I have the last five weeks, and I made sure that I kept telling myself that all day. I am one of the best players in the world. This is supposed to happen. It’s OK to feel nervous, and no matter what I feel today, everybody else in the field feels exactly the same way I do.

“So go out there and get it done. I did a great job of that.”

McIlroy, the best player in golf this year and the No. 1 seed going into the Tour Championship, faded early by dropping four shots in a four-hole span on the front nine. So did Woods, who already was 3 over on his round before making his first birdie on the par-5 ninth.

Snedeker wound up with a three-shot victory over Justin Rose (71) to win the Tour Championship, his second win this year and a trophy that came with $1.44 million. Add the $10 million bonus from the FedEx Cup, and it’s the richest payoff in golf.

Big deal.

The 31-year-old from Nashville, Tenn., calls that kind of money “crazy talk … like winning the lottery.” Far greater perspective came from a 30-minute hospital visit Sunday morning with Tucker Anderson, the son of his swing coach who was critically injured in a car accident and is in a responsive coma.

He beat McIlroy out of the FedEx Cup, and everyone else in his way at East Lake. Ryan Moore was tied for the lead with birdies on the 14th and 15th holes, only to make bogey on the last three holes for a 70 to tie for third with Luke Donald (67).

McIlroy still is virtually a lock to be voted PGA Tour player of the year, but he had to settle for second place — and a $3 million bonus — in the FedEx Cup.

Lewis wins Navistar LPGA

LOOKING BACK

Athlete of the week: Makayla Lindburg powered Crook County volleyball past Mountain View on Tuesday, 25-22, 25-20, 25-20, recording 19 kills in both teams’ Intermountain Hybrid opener. The Cowgirls’ senior middle blocker finished the match strong, posting nine kills in the final game.

Game of the week: Madras piled up 52 points in a home football game Friday night — and lost. That’s because, despite five touchdowns by Devin Ceciliani, the White Buffaloes could not stop Crook County and Marcus Greaves, who scored SIX touchdowns of his own in the Cowboys’ wild 60-52 nonleague victory.

LOOKING AHEAD

Tuesday

Summit at Ridgeview volleyball, 6:30 p.m.: The Storm, the reigning Class 5A state champions, take on the upstart Ravens, who are quickly establishing themselves a 4A postseason threat.

Thursday

Summit at Bend girls soccer, 4:30 p.m.: The Storm, the top-ranked team in Class 5A, play the No. 4-ranked Lava Bears in a match that will likely have huge implications on the Intermountain Conference title chase.

Friday

Summit at Redmond football, 7 p.m.: In the first Class 5A Intermountain Conference game of the year, Redmond’s Panthers look to stay unbeaten against a 2-2 Summit squad. Both teams are coming off wins last Friday, Redmond routing visiting Henley of Klamath Falls 47-7, and Summit notching a 27-14 victory at The Dalles Wahtonka.

PRATTVILLE, Ala. — Stacy Lewis won the Navistar LPGA Classic on Sunday for her third LPGA Tour victory in five months, closing with a 3-under 69 to beat defending champion Lexi Thompson by two strokes.

Lewis parred the final two holes after a birdie on No. 16 gave her the final cushion, and Thompson shot a 66 on The Senator course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Capitol Hill complex.

Lewis also won in Mobile in late April, edging Thompson by a stroke in that tournament.

— The Associated Press