Winning $1.22 billion Megamillions lottery ticket sold in California

A lottery player in the Golden State is about to start the New Year in grand fashion.

Officials said early Saturday that one ticket bought in California matched all numbers in Friday's Megamillions drawing — 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and 6 — to win the  $1.22 billion top prize.

The winner was sold at Sunshine Food and Gas in Cottonwood, a small community in northern California,  according to the state lottery website.

The jackpot had been building since Sept. 13 and is the fifth-largest in the history of the game.

The jackpot win was only the third in 2024, the lowest number in a single year since  Megamillions was formed as a seven state lottery coalition in 2002 and began expanding nationwide.

Friday’s drawing came  five days after a winning jackpot of $1.128 billion from was belatedly claimed Monday by a couple in New Jersey.