Tiger Woods cruised to a comfortable eight-shot victory in the BMW Championship in Illinois on Sunday to move to the top of top of the FedEx Cup standings.

The American's victory at Cog Hill was the 71st of his illustrious career and came as no surprise after his sublime course-record 62 in Saturday's third round.

Coming into the day with a near unassailable seven-shot lead, Woods won by eight strokes on Sunday evening to close in on the legendary Jack Nicklaus.

The win - Woods' sixth this season - came courtesy of a round of 68 on Sunday to finish 19-under-par overall, eight clear of compatriot Jim Furyk and Australian Marc Leishman.

Furyk's five-under round of 66 saw him make a late charge up the leaderboard though there was never any real chance of him overhauling Woods.

Leishman was two under on 69 on Sunday with two birdies and no bogeys.

Padraig Harrington had been in and around all weekend but finished tied for sixth on six under with fellow European Sergio Garcia, of Spain, after a difficult round of 73. Garcia closed with a level-par 71.

England's Luke Donald was among four tied for 10th place after a 73 while countryman Ian Poulter shared 20th after a poor 75.

Woods said: "It was a good week. I hit the ball well, but basically felt like I hit it the same as I have been.

"The only difference is I made a few more putts this week and got some momentum. As we all know, you have to make putts to win championships. This week I certainly made my share."

Woods insisted his recent putting problems did not force him to adjust anything.

"Not a thing," he said. "I didn't change anything, it's just one of those things where I was hitting a lot of lips, they just weren't going in.

"That's the way it goes. You're not going to make every putt.

"As long as the ball starts off on-line and I've got my pace right, that's the way it goes.

"If you read the putts better, eventually they'll start going in. It's just a matter of time. I was patient, and here we are."

Furyk was not particularly content with his strong finish.

"You know, I've played well this year. I've played solidly, but obviously I haven't won a golf tournament.

"That bothers me more than anyone else, trust me. And I'm reminded of it every time I play well. The guy out there in the last group (Woods) is the reason why I haven't had a better chance to win a couple more tournaments.

"I played well this week. Really this weekend I shot nine-under on a very, very difficult golf course. I made a big move.

"I'm proud of the way I played, but he was definitely in a class all of his own, and it seemed like he was playing a different golf course out there."

Collated final round scores & totals in the USPGA tour BMW Championship, Cog Hill G & CC, Lemont, Illinois, United States of America

(USA unless stated, par 71):

265 Tiger Woods 68 67 62 68

273 Jim Furyk 70 70 67 66, Marc Leishman (Aus) 67 69 68 69

274 Sean O'Hair 70 68 70 66

276 Zach Johnson 73 65 70 68

278 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 71 68 68 71, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 68 68 69 73

279 Kevin Na 72 72 65 70, Camilo Villegas (Col) 68 74 71 66

280 Bill Haas 71 68 71 70, Matt Kuchar 71 68 66 75, Luke Donald (Eng) 70 69 68 73, Brandt Snedeker 69 69 66 76, Mark Wilson 69 66 71 74

281 Bo Van Pelt 67 69 72 73, Bubba Watson 69 68 70 74, Stephen Ames (Can) 76 67 69 69

282 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 66 70 72 74, Steve Marino 66 77 68 71

283 John Senden (Aus) 70 70 66 77, Mike Weir (Can) 72 69 71 71, Ian Poulter (Eng) 69 71 68 75

284 Anthony Kim 69 69 72 74, Chad Campbell 70 70 72 72, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 72 72 71 69, David Toms 68 71 69 76, Kevin Sutherland 75 67 67 75, Stewart Cink 72 74 70 68

285 Robert Allenby (Aus) 75 74 67 69

286 Nick Watney 70 71 73 72, Jason Dufner 74 70 69 73, Charles Howell III 69 72 70 75, Dustin Johnson 69 73 71 73, Phil Mickelson 71 69 70 76, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 72 71 70 73, Tim Clark (Rsa) 78 69 73 66, Ryan Moore 71 72 75 68

287 Hunter Mahan 73 73 69 72, Charlie Wi (Kor) 71 73 72 71, John Rollins 73 65 74 75, Ernie Els (Rsa) 75 67 77 68, Heath Slocum 70 69 72 76, John Mallinger 68 76 69 74, Scott Verplank 70 75 72 70

288 Brian Davis (Eng) 71 70 72 75, Kenny Perry 77 69 70 72, Ben Crane 75 69 76 68, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 73 75 69 71

289 Jerry Kelly 76 73 69 71, Pat Perez 72 71 73 73, Justin Leonard 73 69 75 72, Davis Love III 74 77 67 71

290 Steve Stricker 72 73 68 77, Nathan Green (Aus) 73 74 73 70

291 Brian Gay 73 71 75 72, Woody Austin 76 72 72 71, Bryce Molder 70 73 71 77, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 68 73 75 75

292 Jason Bohn 71 74 74 73, Jason Day (Aus) 71 73 75 73

293 Charley Hoffman 73 71 72 77, Jeff Overton 72 68 75 78, Jonathan Byrd 69 79 73 72, Webb Simpson 70 74 73 76

297 Y.E. Yang (Kor) 71 78 73 75

299 Lucas Glover 74 75 71 79

300 Paul Goydos 74 72 73 81

304 J.B. Holmes 78 73 72 81