Scottie Scheffler caught fire to win his first FedEx Cup title.
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For a moment, Scottie Scheffler was spinning in a way we’d never seen before.
But that moment was short. of Scottie Scheffler who set records throughout 2024 returned as quickly as it disappeared.
The World No. 1 missed a short putt on the 7th hole and then bogeyed the second on the 8th hole to see his once seven-stroke lead on the 7th hole. Championship tournament down to just two with 11 holes to play in the final round.
Scheffler responded by knocking in a 4-iron on the par-3 236-yard 9th to five feet, making the putt and then birdieing the next two holes to restore his lead to five over Collin Morikawa.
“Nine was a huge turnaround,” Scheffler said afterward. “(My caddie) Teddy (Scott) gave me a pep talk there on the back 8 green because I was looking at him like, ‘Man, I don’t know about that; that’s not looking so hot right now.’
“He gave me a little pep talk and then I was able to hit a really nice iron there and turned things around.”
The Olympic gold medalist kept his foot on the gas with an eagle going into 14 and he won the tournament championship and the FedEx Cup season title by four strokes.
“We’ve put in a lot of work to get to this point and it’s been a long week,” Scheffler said. “I’m pretty tired right now, so I don’t know how to put it into words. But it’s a pretty special feeling to finally hold the trophy.”
Scheffler’s 30 under par was the best in the six editions of the Tour Championship played under the staggered stroke format and his victory marks just the third time player who starts the week at 10 under and with a two-shot lead has won the tournament. It’s also Scheffler’s first tournament championship win, despite entering the week with a two-shot lead as the FedEx Cup leader in each of the previous two seasons.
The win is also Scheffler’s seventh in a historic season in which he won the Masters and Players Championship titles, along with four other PGA Tour Signature Event victories and the Olympic gold medal. He is the first player to win seven times in a single PGA Tour season since Tiger Woods in 2007 and the first to win a major, the Players and the FedEx Cup in the same season.
It was also a year of dramatic twists and turns for Scheffler both on and off the course. He and his wife Meredith welcomed their first child in May, but that same month, Scheffler was also arrested while trying to get to Valhalla Golf Club for the second round of the PGA Championship.
It’s also Scheffler’s 13th PGA Tour victory, with the first coming just 931 days ago at the 2022 WM Phoenix Open. According to statistics Justin RayScheffler had the fastest time from his first win to his 13th since 1960, 102 days faster than Jack Nicklaus and 182 days faster than Tiger Woods.
But early Sunday, the day looked like it might have been far more of a disaster than a coronation. Extended Scheffler his overnight lead to five strokes in seven, just like after his opening round 65, quickly with a birdie on No. 2.
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But then Morikawa began to chip away at the lead with birdies at 4 and 6. Then Scheffler hit his tee shot at the 7th, a fence that saved him from going out of bounds and having to play his second back into the fairway free while staying inside. a tree. He looked like he would keep par when he hit the third to five feet, but missed the putt, the only eight-foot miss all week.
He still had a four-shot lead when he put his ball in the green bunker on the par-4 8th. That’s when Scheffler shocked everyone by swinging his second shot nearly 45 degrees to the right of his target and saw it connect over green. He failed to hold par as Morikawa got up and down for birdie to cut the lead to two.
Momentum was drawing shadows of 2022 when Scheffler blew a six-shot lead at East Lake to Rory McIlroy on the final day. At the age of nine that year, Scheffler was just one. But this is a very different Scottie Scheffler.
He also has a veteran caddy in Scott, who stepped in just before Scheffler hit the decisive putt on the 9th.
“I won’t give away all our secrets, but Teddy has always been my biggest supporter,” Scheffler said. “I think the results speak for themselves as he was able to get my bag and started helping me. He really is a great part of the team. I don’t know if I could do any of this without it in my bag. We have a great relationship.
“He has a habit of saying the right thing at the right time to keep me in the right frame of mind.”
After Morikawa left his approach short on the par-3, Scheffler pulled the 4-iron and unleashed a high chip that barely held the front of the green, landed lightly, but launched to the back pin, stopping only five meters away. The man of the hour was back in control.
He didn’t stop there. On the 10th, as he has done many times in 2024, he closed his approach to three feet. On the 11th, he holed a 15-footer for another birdie. Then, on the 14th, he closed the door for good with a 374-yard drive, iron to 16 feet and another bogey for eagle.
After his final round of 67, Scheffler will raise $25 million for the FedEx Cup win, combined with an $8 million FedEx Cup regular-season driving bonus and his record $29,228,357 in official earnings, Scheffler has earned more than $62 million on the course this season so far most of all time.
