Scottie Scheffler began his season in ominous fashion as he collected his 20th PGA TOUR title thanks to a four-shot victory at The American Express.
The World No. 1 came into the final round at the Stadium Course at PGA West a shot adrift of overnight leader Si Woo Kim but displayed his dominance throughout the Sunday. He recorded five birdies on the front nine to climb to the top of the leaderboard at the turn whilst Kim’s search for a fifth PGA TOUR win unravelled quickly as a result of a bogey at the 6th, double bogey at the 7th, and a further bogey at the 9th. Scheffler, however, never looked back and even despite a double bogey at the 17th where he found water, he safely sealed his first victory on his first appearance of the season by carding a six-under 66 to end on 27 under.
The landmark triumph cements the 29-year-old American as only the third player alongside Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to surpass the $100 million mark in career earnings after collecting $1,656,000 following the event.
He also joins Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only three players to have 20 PGA TOUR triumphs and four majors to their name under the age of 30. These achievements have earned him a lifetime exemption on the PGA TOUR.
“It’s pretty wild,” Scheffler said following his win on his 151st appearance on the circuit. “It has been a great start to my career and I’ve had some nice wins out there. It has been special and I try not to think about that stuff too much.
“Going into the season, I was just trying to do the things I needed to do in order to be prepared to come out and play this week. I’m going to go home, get some rest and kind of rinse and repeat.”
Australia’s Jason Day recorded a final-round 64 to join American trio Ryan Gerard, Matt McCarty and Andrew Putnam in a four-way tie for second on 23 under.
What is the next event?
The next event on the PGA TOUR schedule is the Farmers Insurance Open taking place between January 29-February 1 at Torrey Pines Golf Course in California.