Despite an incredible final round in the 2023 Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club down in Atlanta, Xander Schauffele simply did not have enough gas in the tank to overcome Viktor Hovland on Sunday. Nevertheless, finishing second despite starting the event at three under was an exceptional feat for Schauffele, who fired a 62 in the fourth round.

Hovland started the Tour Championship eight under, but he did not rely on that cushion entirely to carry him to the top. He played great golf from start to finish that even if the starting strokes format were removed across the board, he still would end up on top — albeit sharing the lead with Schauffele as both had raw scores of 19-under.

“I thought 62 would have let me get close to him, but I think the closest I got to was three shots back,” Schauffele said after finishing second (h/t Jay Coffin of Golf Digest). “He played unbelievably well. He made important putts and he’s just played like a champ.”

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Hovland, indeed, fared great at East Lake. He never shot worse than a 68 in any round and concluded his campaign with a 63 in the fourth round to still finish five strokes ahead of everyone in the tournament. Xander Schauffele did everything he could, and he will just have to be content with that thought. He also came away with $6.5 million in winnings for finishing second, so it was not too shabby of a day for the 29-year-old pro from California.

Wyndham Clark finished third and Rory McIlroy was fourth. Patrick Cantlay rounded out the top five with a solo fifth-place finish.