Scottie Scheffler delivered a commanding weekend performance to cruise to an emphatic eight-shot victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first event of the FedExCup playoffs.
The world No. 1 came into the final round at TPC Southwind as the overnight leader with a two-shot advantage and despite an early wobble where he found water at the 3rd, reducing his lead to one, that was just a minor setback for the four-time major winner who went on to pull away from the chasing pack who were unable to keep pace thanks to consecutive birdies at the 5th and 6th followed by a clinical display on the back nine with further birdies at the 11th, 13th, and 16th on his way to carding a 4-under 66 to claim his second PGA TOUR title of the season and 21st of his career, becoming the third-youngest player to reach that number of wins on the circuit behind Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
“It’s not easy to win out here,” Scheffler said after finishing on 17 under. “I felt like the year that I’ve had kind of shows how difficult it is.
“We have a lot of talented guys, and I played some really solid golf over the course of this year, but I hadn’t played much great golf.
“I have had my close calls and lost a couple play-offs. It was nice coming into a day during which I had the lead and was able to hold that lead and really kind of build on it as the round went on.
“I felt like a week like this was coming. I felt like I was on repeat all year just being like: ‘Hey, I’m playing solid. I’m close’.
“It feels good to be answering some different questions at the end of this week.”
It is a victory that reaffirmed why he is at the summit of the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) as well as the FedExCup standings, having now extended his lead as he hunts his second FedExCup title.
Korea’s Si Woo Kim claimed the runner-up spot on 9 under with a final-round 68 while America’s Sam Burns and Sweden’s Alexander Noren took a share of third a shot further back.
Meanwhile world No. 2 Rory McIlroy, who is searching for a third FedExCup title, produced a lacklustre display only settling for a 66th-place finish with rounds of 74, 70, 72, and 72 to end on 8 over.
The Northern Irishman entered the tournament 12th in the FedExCup standings but has not played competitively since the Open Championship in July.
“Obviously, I didn’t come in here with a ton of reps,” McIlroy said. “I felt like the more the week went on, the more I felt lost with my golf swing.
“Figured it out a little bit the last few holes today but my swing wasn’t in sync and I didn’t do a ton of practice coming in here.”
With the conclusion of the event, players within the top 50 of the FedExCup standings will progress to the BMW Championship, the second event of the FedExCup playoffs.
What is the next event?
The next event on the PGA TOUR schedule is the BMW Championship taking place between 20-23 August at Bellerive Country Club in Missouri.