Paul Casey just missed out on a second victory in the United States.
Three clear after a superb opening 12 holes in the final round of the BMW Championship at Cog Hill, Casey bogeyed the next three to fall into a tie with American Dustin Johnson.
And Johnson then struck the decisive blow, pitching to two feet on the 17th.
A closing par gave the 26 year old, one of Corey Pavin's five debutants at Celtic Manor on October 1-3, the third of the FedEx Cup play-off series with a matching 69 and nine under aggregate of 275.
Everything was going so well when Casey birdied the second, sixth, eighth, 11th and 12th after resuming in fifth place.
They took him from two behind to three in front, but he was in the rough on the next, bunkered at the 14th and had to take a penalty drive down the long 15th after pulling his drive into the trees.
All three errors led to bogeys and while he steadied for a fourth consecutive 69 it was not enough.
However, Casey progresses to the Tour Championship in Atlanta - final leg of the series - in fifth spot in the overall standings knowing that if he wins there he will also take the £6.5million jackpot.
Johnson's victory eased the pain of blowing the US Open Championship with a closing 82 in June and then losing the US PGA Championship when he incurred a two stroke penalty for grounding his club in what was deemed a bunker on the final hole.
For the second day running Casey played with compatriot Ian Poulter.
Poulter was in the running for the title himself until he went out of bounds on the long 11th and ran up a triple-bogey eight.
Coming home in 40 for a 75 not only dropped him to 13th, but cost him a place in the Tour Championship.
Also playing together were Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson - and Mickelson won their duel with a 67 to 70 to finish joint eighth.
While that was not enough for Mickelson to replace Woods at the head of the world rankings he was the one progressing to East Lake in a fortnight's time.
Only the leading 30 on the points standings advance and Woods, without a top three finish all year and 15th this time, came 42nd in the standings.
Johnson said: "I've had some unfortunate situations on Sundays this year, so this feels great.
"I really hung in there all day and it paid off. I'm starting to swing reallty well and hopefully it will carry over to Atlanta."
