McIlroy minted after Crooked Stick win

World No. 1 Rory McIlroy has put himself in pole position to win the $10 million FedEx Cup jackpot by claiming his second successive playoff event on Sunday.

The Northern Irishman followed up last Monday's win at the Deutsche Bank Championship by winning the BMW Championship by two shots, despite bogeying his last hole at Crooked Stick in Indiana.

It was the 23-year-old's third win in four starts, a run which started with his second major triumph at last month's PGA Championship. He has pocketed more than $4.2 million from those victories and $7.8 million on the PGA Tour this season.

It is a far cry from earlier this year, when he missed three halfway cuts in four events, including his U.S. Open title defense, and then tied for 60th at the British Open.

"I'm just on a great run at the moment," said McIlroy, who became the fourth player to win two playoff events in the same year. "I'm playing well, I'm confident -- just hope to keep it going.

"It's great to be able to win events like this where the quality of the field is so good."

McIlroy will lead second-placed Tiger Woods by more than 3,000 points going into the deciding Tour Championship at Atlanta starting on September 20, when the top 30 players from the playoffs will line up.

McIlroy still has work to do to clinch the title, however, as Woods, third-placed Nick Watney, Phil Mickelson and fifth-placed Brandt Snedeker can all overtake him by winning at East Lake.

He went into the final round tied for second with European Ryder Cup teammate Lee Westwood, one shot behind veterans Mickelson and Vijay Singh.

McIlroy shot a five-under-par 67, while Westwood carded 69 and Mickelson 70 to share second on 18-under 270.

Woods closed with 68 to finish another shot back tied for fourth with fellow American Robert Garrigus, whose 69 helped lift him from 31st to 20th in the playoff standings.

The 49-year-old Singh will not have the chance to try to emulate his 2008 FedEx Cup success as the Fijian fell to 33rd in the table after fading with a final-round 73 to finish eighth on 15 under.

Defending champion Bill Haas also missed out after a disastrous 78 left the American tied for 45th and 32nd overall.

Ryan Moore was the only other player from outside the top 30 to clinch a place at the decider, with American carding 70 to tie for 10th and move up from 35th to 28th.