08/16/26 05:25:00
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08/16 17:23 CDT Scottie Scheffler back to his dominant self and opens PGA Tour
postseason with 8-shot win
Scottie Scheffler back to his dominant self and opens PGA Tour postseason with
8-shot win
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) --- Scottie Scheffler was back to his dominant form Sunday,
turning a two-shot lead into a runaway in the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He
closed with a 4-under 66 for an eight-shot victory, the largest in the 68-year
history at the TPC Southwind.
Scheffler ended nearly seven months without winning, a season that has been
marked by astonishing consistency but only one trophy to show for it from his
season opener at The American Express in the California desert.
This was only close for a fleeting moment. After months of little things
getting in the way, Scheffler hit a bunker shot on the par-5 third that would
have settled a few feet away for a tap-in birdie. But it landed on a sprinkler
head, took a hard hop and rolled through the green into the water for bogey.
"I was like, ?Man, when is this going to stop happening?'" Scheffler said.
That shrunk his lead to one shot over Sungjae Im. Then Scheffler made
consecutive birdie putts on the fifth and sixth holes and was on his way.
Playing in the final group in stifling heat and the most wind all week,
Scheffler matched the best score Sunday.
He finished at 17-under 263, eight shots clear of his Dallas neighbor Si Woo
Kim, who closed with a 68 to finish eight shots behind. The previous record was
John Cook winning at TPC Southwind by seven shots in 1996.
Scheffler now has 21 career victories on the PGA Tour, 10 of them by four shots
or more.
Sam Burns, one of Scheffler's best friends in golf, played with him in the
final group and took double bogey on the par-5 third hole. He shot 73 and tied
for third with Alex Noren (69).
"I don't think it would have mattered if I played well," Burns said. "He was
going to be tough to beat today."
Scheffler won $3.6 million from the prize fund, and he clinched an additional
$23 million in bonus money for being No. 1 in the FedEx Cup through next week's
BMW Championship. No one can catch him. No one is particularly close in the
game at the moment, even when he's not piling up trophies.
Scheffler now has two victories, five runner-up finishes and five other top 4s
in another stellar year that until Sunday was marked by his lack of winning
compared with previous years. The TPC Southwind was the course he had played
the most times without winning, and the FedEx Cup playoffs opener had been the
only postseason tournament he had yet to win. All that changed.
Im wound up with a 75 to tie for fifth, but it was enough for the South Korean
to move from No. 53 into the top 50 who advance to the BMW Championship next
week in St. Louis. Im kept alive his chances of reaching the Tour Championship
every year since he was a rookie in 2019.
Im bumped out Keith Mitchell, who stood in the water left of the 18th fairway
to play a shot from the bank as he tried to give himself his best chance. That
shot tumbled into the water, he made bogey and narrowly missed out.
So did Jordan Spieth, who needed to close with four pars to reach the BMW
Championship for the first time since 2023, and finished with a bogey from the
water on No. 15 and three pars for a 70.
The top 50 who advance also are assured of playing all the $20 million
signature events next year.
Scheffler put himself squarely in the mix for a fifth straight PGA Tour player
of the year during a season in which no one has stood out based on titles
alone. The body of work has been impressive, and Scheffler still has two
tournaments remaining.
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