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World number one Scottie Scheffler capped his remarkable season by winning the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship and with it the $25 million FedEx Cup title with a four-shot victory at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta on Sunday.
Scheffler started the final round with a five-shot lead over Collin Morikawa but saw that advantage cut to just two shots after back-to-back bogeys on the 7th and 8th holes, but he recovered to claim his seventh PGA Tour victory of the season.
He is the first player to win seven PGA Tour events in a year since Tiger Woods in 2007 and his remarkable season also includes a Masters victory and an Olympic gold medal.
For the past two years, Scheffler had started the Tour Championship as the No. 1 seed but failed to finish and win the FedEx Cup. After leading the standings for most of this year, he was thrilled to get his reward.
“I try not to think too much about the past and I try not to think too much about the future,” he said.
“But I think two years ago it was quite difficult, I had a good lead going into the last round and I didn’t play my best and then I lost. And then last year I had a pretty tough week so I was quite disappointed.
“So to come in with a lead for the third time and be able to close it out is really cool,” he added.
Scheffler began the week with a score of 10 under par under the staggered scoring system used for the season finale and ended the week with a score of 30 under par after closing with a 67.
Morikawa would have beaten Scheffler by two strokes in regular format and for a while he put his rival under real pressure.
Scheffler missed a bunker shot on the eighth hole, making his second straight bogey while Morikawa birdied to cut the deficit to two.
But as is often the case, Scheffler didn’t let the setbacks turn into a real momentum swing as he birdied three straight holes from the ninth hole onwards, then his eagle on the par-5 15th put Morikawa out of sight.
Scheffler credited his caddie Ted Scott for helping him recover and secure the victory.
“The 9th was a huge turnaround. Teddy gave me a great pep talk on the back of the 8th green because I looked at him like, ‘Man, I don’t know, this doesn’t look great right now.’”
“He gave me a little pep talk and then I was able to hit a really nice iron shot and get things going,” he said.
“He’s really a vital part of the team. I don’t know if I would be able to do anything without him in my bag.”
Morikawa, who collected $12.5 million for his second-place finish, was pleased with his effort but said Scheffler provided the perfect example of how to close out a golf tournament.
“Nothing bothers him. Whether I was about to gain ground or he was about to gain ground, it didn’t change the way he walked, the way he played or the way he took every shot,” he said.
“It’s something to learn. I think his mental game is a lot stronger than a lot of people think.
“It’s unbelievable what he’s been able to do this whole season, and the last three years. It’s been really cool to watch him play, and hopefully I can take something from it,” he said.
Sahith Theegala finished third for a $7.5 million prize, six shots behind the leader while Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley and Australia’s Adam Scott tied for fourth on 19 under.
Henley took fourth place with an eagle on the 18th hole where he chipped in from 36 yards.
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