The world number one further cemented his status as the greatest player of the past five years with a dominant performance across the 2026 FedEx Cup Playoffs. Some had questioned Scheffler’s form and desire after a long – by his standards at any rate – winless run, even if said streak included nine top-five finishes.
That debate was put to bed when he won the first tournament of the 2026 FedEx Cup series, the St Jude Championship. He triumphed in Memphis by a massive eight shots, adding another $3.6m to his incredible career prize money total. He had a bit of an off week in the second event of the Playoffs, at the BMW Championship, but well and truly bounced back at the crucial Tour Championship, the concluding tournament of the FedEx Cup.
Four Low Rounds to Much for Rivals
| Position | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Par Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scottie Scheffler | 65 | 67 | 66 | 66 | -16 (264) |
| 2 | Viktor Hovland | 64 | 66 | 65 | 72 | -13 (267) |
| 3 | Ryan Gerard | 65 | 65 | 66 | 72 | -12 (268) |
| =4 | Alex Fitzpatrick | 68 | 68 | 67 | 66 | -11 (269) |
| =4 | Jacob Bridgeman | 68 | 67 | 66 | 68 | -11 (269) |
| =4 | Min Woo Lee | 62 | 73 | 66 | 68 | -11 (269) |
| =4 | Russell Henley | 70 | 65 | 66 | 68 | -11 (269) |
| =4 | Rory McIlroy | 68 | 69 | 63 | 69 | -11 (269) |
| =4 | Chris Gotterup | 64 | 67 | 67 | 71 | -11 (269) |
| =4 | Ludvig Åberg | 65 | 68 | 65 | 71 | -11 (269) |
Part of the reason Scottie has not won as many tournaments in 2026 as he has in past seasons is that he has rarely strung four high-class rounds together. All too often this year he has started a little slowly and given himself an uphill battle.
He won two of the three FedEx events this year. At the one he missed out on, the BMW Championship, he opened with a round of 72. Solid by normal standards, but it was four shots worse than the worst of the other 11 rounds he played in the Playoffs. Crucially, it was eight shots worse than three of the eventual top four at that event managed in their first rounds.
He made no such mistake at the Tour Championship though, and he was tuned in from the off. An opening 65 was three shots worse than Australia’s Min Woo Lee recorded, but it left him level, or at worst a shot behind, most of his rivals.
The American backed it up with a solid 67 and then came into his own over the weekend. Back to back 66s were just too much for the rest to keep pace with and in the end Scheffler shot an impressive total of 264, 16 under, that was three shots better than Norway’s Viktor Hovland, who came second.
The champion, who claimed his second FedEx success in three years, began the day three shots off the lead, which had been held by Hovland. Paul Gerard was also ahead of Scheffler, having posted rounds of 65-65-66. However, both of those men could only manage a 72 on the Sunday, and that left the door open for the world number one.
Scheffler doesn’t need much encouragement and he further made a mockery of past suggestions that he had lost his killer instinct by producing a relentless performance on Sunday when it mattered most. He made six birdies and dropped two shots to par in his four-under 66. On a day when scoring was tougher than the first three days, that 66 was the joint-lowest on Sunday and helped Scheffler land the $10m winner’s prize.
Joins Tiger and Rory as Multiple Champ but Surpasses Woods Career Earnings
Scheffler won the FedEx Cup in 2024, but this win moved him alongside Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as the only multiple champions. Hovland, winner in 2023, went close, but it was the world’s best player who put himself in that elite group.
The next target for the 30-year-old will be matching and then surpassing Rory’s three wins. The world number two won in 2022, 2019 and 2016 and has come close on other occasions. He will also want to pass Woods, whose two victories came in 2009 and 2007 (the Playoffs began in 2007).
However, one metric where the youngest of these golfing greats already leads the way is career earnings on the PGA Tour. His $10m prize for this latest win, while McIlroy took home “just” $1.7m for his tied fourth, means that Scheffler is now number one.
- Scottie Scheffler – $130,390,661
- Tiger Woods – $120,999,166
- Rory McIlroy – $119,555,515
- Phil Mickelson – $96,727,968
- Justin Rose – $79,356,373
Due to player pressure and the threat posed by LIV, earnings have soared in recent seasons. Scheffler will one day be surpassed, no doubt, as inflation and further monetisation of the tour lead to bigger and bigger payouts for winners. However, over the next few years we could see the American stretch his current lead substantially, unless Rory, or someone else, can find another gear. Scheffler may not have won a major in 2026, but to evoke Mark Twain, reports of Scheffler’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
Alex Fitzpatrick Emergence Continues
There were various other big stories from the conclusion to the FedEx Cup Playoffs but from a European perspective it was great to see Hovland finish second, with Rory and Ludvig Aberg T4 and 2025 champ Tommy Fleetwood finishing tied for 11th.
However, Alex Fitzpatrick, brother of 2022 US Open champion Matt, also ended tied fourth at the Tour Championship. His emergence during 2026 has been one of the stories of the season and is great for European golf and potentially the Ryder Cup team that will face the US in 2027.
The junior Fitzpatrick brother – Alex is five years younger – won his first events on both the European and PGA Tours this year (although admittedly the latter came alongside his brother in the pairs event, the Zurich Classic). He also made the cut at all three majors he contested and is now up to a career high of number 61 in the world. With a two-year PGA exemption thanks to his win in New Orleans, we can expect to see that ranking improve considerably in the months and years ahead.