Scheffler: down the fairway, onto the green, and another FedEx title

Of all the memorable shots in Scottie Scheffler’s victory in the PGA Tour Championship Sunday, the most poignant may have been not with a club but into a microphone by the perceptive Jim Nantz on CBS television.

With the amazing Scheffler three shots ahead and on the 17th green at Atlanta’s East Lake Country Club, Nantz said, “The only way Scheffler is not going to win is through a mistake in addition.” 

There would be no mistake on the scorecard, nor would there be a mistake calling Scheffler the best player in the game.

When it was all said and done, Scheffler, who began the final round three strokes out of the lead, would come in with a 4-under-par 66 for a total of 264, and his second FedEx Cup title. 

This was an unusual year for Scheffler, who won back in January, the American Express in Palm Desert, and then after numerous, frustrating near misses, including by a shot at the Masters, he would verify his presence and his position two weeks ago at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis.

Scheffler, 30, has been No.1 in the world rankings since March 2022, that’s 207 weeks, third all-time to Tiger Woods (683) and Greg Norman(331).

Scheffler did overtake Woods in one category: career earnings. The $10 million he earned in his victory at the FedEx Cup gave Scottie a total of $130,390,661, which overtakes Woods’ $120,999,166. However, money is a very misleading way to rank golfers. Purses have ballooned in the last few decades as the sport blossomed and contracts for television coverage grew directly.

For comparison, the great Ben Hogan, arguably one of the top four or five players in history but making his mark in the ‘40s and ‘50s, earned an official total of only $332,000. So we must judge a player on victories more than dollars. Scheffler has won 22 times on Tour. And at his age should get quite a few more.

“He’s just good, and he played good every day,”  said Viktor Hovland, who finished second to Scottie.

“I could have shot 66 easily as well today. I just didn’t have it… It wasn’t like anybody else really played all that great in contention, and that’s what you see—a lot of guys just gagging and throwing up.  And that’s where he just kind of stays in it and shoots a nice score. That gets the job done.”

Scheffler plays the kind of boring game every high-handicap amateur—and many touring pros—would love to play. His tee shots land on the fairway for the most part, and his approach shots land on the green.

He’s a perfect reflection of the cliché, “It ain’t how, it’s how many.”