Scottie Scheffler didn’t own this PGA Tour season like he had the last few years, but once again he ended up defining it.
For the second time in three years, Scottie Scheffler won the FedEx Cup title, rallying from a three-stroke deficit on Sunday to capture the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. With a closing four-under 66, Scheffler was able to overtake Viktor Hovland by three strokes to punctuate a season that began with a victory, became notable for his scratching and clawing from slow starts to a series of top-three finishes, and ended with two victories in the last 14 days.
Two years ago, Scheffler won what amounted to a season-long race for the FedEx Cup title when it was contested with starting strokes. This time, he emerged with the victory amid the free-for-all format instituted last year. In both instances, Scheffler seemed like the appropriate champion. With a 16-under 264 aggregate total, the undisputed World No. 1 player captured his third win of the year, his eighth top-two finish and his 13th in the top five.
His FedEx Cup playoff run of win, T-12, win—with the slip in last week’s BMW Championship coming despite the painful effects of hand, foot and mouth disease—likely cements his status as the favorite for a fifth straight Jack Nicklaus Award as PGA Tour Player of the Year.
“Coming from behind and being able to win the tournament is a really cool feeling,” said Scheffler, who notched his 22nd career victory on the PGA Tour.
Jonathan Bachman
Scheffler tied for low round of the day and he was the only player in the final three pairings who broke par. East Lake was much less hospitable than in any of the first three rounds, playing over par to an average of 70.067 and turning the playoff finale into the Chore Championship.
Utterly appropriate in a $40 million tournament.
Utterly predictable that the man who met the moment, who had the execution and determination when the pressure ratcheted higher was the player whose year wasn’t as satisfying as he’d have preferred but still was in its own way fulfilling.
Scheffler is not simply No. 1 because of his talent (which is immense) or because a computer says so (by a wide margin); he’s the game’s best player because of his unparalleled consistency and he simply refuses to quit on any shot of any hole in each round. This he learned early in his career watching Woods closely when they were paired together, and for all the ways in which Scheffler is compared statistically to the 15-time major champion, it’s Scheffler’s tenacity that most reminds us of Tiger’s most enduring quality.
“I’m very proud of fighting back and having some good finishes and even give myself chances to win with some of those poor starts I had,” said Scheffler, 30, who had only one finish outside the top 25 in 20 starts, that coming when he missed the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open. “But overall, I just continued to battle, day in and day out. You know, it’s just a gift to be out here on tour, so everyday I’m going to try and give it my best.
“Sometimes it can be hard when you wake up and you’re close to last place and you know you have to bring the energy and the fight that I bring each week. This year as a whole was just a big battle.”
Jonathan Bachman
Scheffler, who led the FedEx Cup points standings after last week’s BMW Championship to earn a $23 million bonus, pocketed $10 million more. He joined Woods (of course) as two-time winners of the FedEx Cup title, one behind Rory McIlroy. He has led the FedEx Cup standings each of the last five years, most in the playoff era. Second place? Um, yeah, Woods.
And can’t escape mentioning this, even if it was inevitable: Scheffler surpassed Woods on the career money list with $130,390,661 to Tiger’s $120 million and change—thanks to elevated purses that Woods had a hand in soliciting in response to the launch of the LIV Golf League.
“Three wins, five runner-ups and finishing the season No. 1. Those are some numbers to be proud of,” Woods wrote in a post on X. “Incredible consistency all season long. Congrats on a historic season, Scottie.”
Nice. Hmmm, but no mention of that earnings record.
Hovland, the 2023 FedEx Cup champion who beat Scheffler in a Monday playoff at the Travelers Championship in June, struggled to find fairways on Sunday and slipped to a 72 for second place at 267. Ryan Gerard, who began the final round one behind Hovland, also closed with a 72 for third place in his Tour Championship debut.
Defending champion Tommy Fleetwood closed with a 67 and tied for 11th at 10-under 270.
“He's just good, and he played good every day,” Hovland said of Scheffler. “I could have shot 66 easily as well today, [but] just didn't have it. Kudos to him is that he shows up and does it when you have to do it, and that's how you win golf tournaments, and that's how he's won so much.”
Scheffler, who came within inches of acing the long par-3 second hole to make an immediate move on the leaders, has multiple tour wins in five straight seasons and is tied for 29th on the career victory list with Ray Floyd, Jim Barnes and Johnny Farrell.
The 2026 season undoubtedly is in the running as the most frustrating of his professional career. We could see that frustration boil over with occasional outbursts and the odd club abuse. We watched him scream at his golf ball during Saturday’s third round at East Lake when it broke in a direction opposite to his read—and that was during a bogey-free 66.
Golfers long have known theirs is not a game of perfect. But it’s perfectly reasonable for a player of Scheffler’s skill level to demand the best version of himself whenever he tees it up. Anything short of that is maddeningly unacceptable—and the fiery Texan will not hesitate to express that emotion.
That he finished off the season in style sure gives the year a brighter shine. Right?
“I don't know if it changes my outlook as much as it will change y'all's,” he told the media.
“I feel like I hold myself to a high standard. Sometimes that can be good and bad,” he added. “I just think it's something that golf is a difficult game. It's really difficult to win out here. I feel like, when I'm close, it can be almost even more frustrating. Finishing second is challenging. The feeling that I have right now is a lot different than the feeling I have hopping in a car again, getting ready to leave, finishing second. It hurts a lot more than winning.”
Right up to the end, Scottie Scheffler refused to give in, refused to fold. He turned a year of near misses into another season that brings him nearer to other greats in the game. He has a long way to go still, but is there any doubt he isn’t built for the chase and doesn’t relish the battle?
“I don't take tournaments off. I don't take days off during tournaments. I try to give it my all each and every day,” Scheffler said. “I don't want to look back at the end of my career and feel like I could have done more in order to play well. I want to be able to tell myself when I hang it up that I did everything I could. I feel like years like this kind of show that to myself, how important that is. Yeah, I don't know how to elaborate beyond that.”
And no elaboration is necessary.
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