Scheffler adds FedExCup to growing résumé

The inevitable became official on Sunday at East Lake Golf Club: Scottie Scheffler won the Tour Championship and clinched the 2024 FedExCup, the first season-long championship of his PGA Tour career.

Scheffler finished a whopping 30 under par and defeated Collin Morikawa by four strokes after an eventful round of 4-under 67.

Scheffler added a FedExCup to his growing résumé and took home the corresponding $25m (R446m) bonus.

Scheffler followed consecutive bogeys by ripping off a three-birdie run at Nos 9-11.

A 15½ft eagle putt at the par-5 14th was the final highlight of his commanding 2024 campaign that reasserted his status as the world’s best golfer.

Morikawa applied pressure early and went on to shoot 66 — not enough to get in Scheffler’s way.

The stoic Scheffler cracked a smile at caddie Ted Scott after tapping in for par at No 18.

For the third consecutive year, Scheffler entered the Tour Championship at 10 under with a two-shot head start thanks to the FedExCup starting strokes format.

He finished the job after failing to convert in 2022 and 2023.

He became the first player since Tiger Woods (2007) to win seven times on tour in one season.

His other wins came at the Masters, the Players Championship and four signature events.

Lucrative moment

“We’ll look back on 2024 and it’s one of the best individual years that a player has had for a long time,” Northern Ireland star Rory McIlroy said as Scheffler finished his round.

Scheffler’s ascendancy comes at a particularly lucrative moment in PGA Tour history.

With purses increasing in recent years, Scheffler managed to break the tour record for most official money in a season for the third consecutive year.

He won more than $29m in official money this season, not counting Sunday’s $25m FedExCup bonus.

Scheffler led by five to begin the day and grew the margin to seven after two holes.

Morikawa birdied No 4 before Scheffler landed in a greenside bunker at No 5, leading to his first bogey.

The playing partners both birdied No 6, but Scheffler gave a stroke back when his 5ft par putt slid by the hole at No 7, his only miss from inside 8ft all week.

He then drove into a bunker on the short par-4 eighth and blasted his second shot over the green.

The door creaked open for Morikawa, who easily birdied the eighth while Scheffler carded his third bogey in four holes.

The two-shot swing pushed Morikawa to 23 under, two off the lead.

In one shot, Scheffler turned the round back in his favour.

He flew his tee shot at the long par-3 ninth to just 5ft of the pin. That was the start of his birdie surge, as he made a 3-footer at No 10 and a 15-footer at No 11.

Morikawa got stuck in neutral at the wrong time, missing birdie tries at Nos 9 and 10.

But he converted three birdies in his final six holes and clinched his best Tour Championship finish in five trips.

Sahith Theegala capped off his best career showing at a FedExCup playoff event, holding onto third place at 24 under thanks to a final-round 64.

Georgia native Russell Henley went 5 under over his final six holes, culminating with a pitch-in eagle at the par-5 18th, to shoot the round of the week at 9-under 62 and please the home crowd.

Henley finished the week 19 under, tied for fourth with Xander Schauffele (68) and Australia’s Adam Scott (67).

Field Level Media