Scottie Scheffler caps record-breaking season with FedEx Cup title and $25M bonus – News-Herald

By DOUG FERGUSON

ATLANTA — Scottie Scheffler capped his best year in golf in nearly two decades by winning the sport’s biggest prize.

Challenged briefly on Sept. 1 at the Tour Championship, Scheffler responded with three straight birdies to make victory seem as inevitable as it had seemed all year. He closed with a 4-under 67 to win by four over Collin Morikawa, winning the FedEx Cup and its $25 million prize, the richest in golf.

As a result, his earnings for the full season, including bonuses, were just under $62.3 million.

It was the best year since Tiger Woods won eight in 2006, including six in a row and two majors, all in the wake of his father’s death. Scheffler’s eight wins included the Masters, The Players Championship, an Olympic gold medal and the Tour Championship, which eventually allowed him to capture the FedEx Cup.

His seven PGA Tour titles are the most since Woods won in 2007.

“When you look back at 2024, it’s clearly one of the best individual years a player has had in a long time,” said Rory McIlroy.

Scheffler took the drama out of the final hour — four of his wins this year have come by three or more strokes — and finally let out a “WOOO!” as he walked in to sign his card. He lifted two large trophies, a silver FedEx Cup and his 4-month-old son, Bennett.

The birth of his first child, his bizarre arrest in Louisville, Kentucky, before the second round of the PGA Championship, another green Masters jacket, Olympic gold. It was a season Scheffler or any other golf fan will never forget.

“It’s a tough week,” Scheffler said during the trophy ceremony. “I’m exhausted right now.”

It was the third straight year Scheffler came to East Lake as the top seed, meaning he started the tournament 10-under par and with a two-shot lead. Two years ago, he lost a six-shot lead in the final round to McIlroy.

Scheffler led by at least five strokes after every round. But then came a terrifying moment when storm clouds began to gather. He made two bogeys in a row, the second on a clean shank from a bunker on the reachable par-4 eighth. Morikawa birdied, and the seven-shot deficit he faced after two holes was reduced to just two with 10 to play.

And then it ended.

Scheffler hit a 4-iron to 5 feet on the par-3 ninth for birdie. He hit a wedge to 3 feet on No. 10 for birdie and then spun in a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 11th.

“He just won’t start making bogeys after that,” Morikawa said of the Scheffler shank. “He’ll do the opposite and start hitting golf balls. It almost gave him back his concentration for half a second, and you can’t teach that.”

That increased his lead to five strokes. And when he holed a 15-foot eagle putt on the 14th hole, it was all about getting to the finish line.

Scheffler called the FedEx Cup season race “silly” because it all came down to the final week at East Lake. There was no doubt that the FedEx Cup had the most suitable champion.

Scheffler finished outside the top 10 just three times in 19 starts, with two second-place finishes and seven PGA Tour titles.

“He’s the guy you have to beat every week,” Justin Thomas said. “I don’t think people understand how hard it is to do that when you’re expected to win, when you’re the favorite to win, when every single thing you do is judged — good and bad — on the golf course, and how hard it is to get into your own little zone and your own little world and just shut out the noise.”

Morikawa, the No. 7 seed who started the tournament six shots behind, finished with a 66 for his lowest score in the Tour Championship, 22-under 262. He won $12.5 million for his second-place finish in the FedEx Cup.

“Six strokes behind me was tough against the best player in the world,” Morikawa said. “I tried.”

Sahith Theegala, who took a two-stroke penalty on Aug. 31 for possibly picking up a small amount of sand on a bunker shot, finished with a 64 for third place. He finished two strokes behind Morikawa and received a $7.5 million bonus for third place.

Adam Scott, who tied for fourth, turned professional in 2000 when Woods was at the peak of his career and has not shied away from the comparisons Scheffler has drawn because of his consistent level of competition.

“I think it’s comparable to those great Tiger years,” Scott said. “I think it’s very difficult for anyone today to separate themselves as much as Scottie did. I don’t think we’ve seen that in a long time. I think it’s harder to do that today.”

And to think, it had only been five months since Scheffler was asked about his putting technique, and he was approaching a full year since his last PGA Tour title (he won the unofficial Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas).

His season earnings of $29,228,356 were about 9.2% of the total prize pool from tournaments he played in. Woods won about 11.6% of the total prize pool in tournaments he played in 2000, which is still considered one of the greatest seasons of all time.

The $25 million FedEx Cup prize is unofficial, as is the $8 million he received from the Comcast Business Top 10 for leading the regular season.