ATLANTA (AP) — Scottie Scheffler capped off the biggest year in golf in nearly two decades by winning the sport's biggest prize.
Challenged briefly Sunday in the Tour Championship, Scheffler responded with three straight birdies to make winning look as inevitable as it has seemed all year. He closed with a 4-under 67 for a four-shot victory over Collin Morikawa to capture the FedEx Cup and its $25 million prize, the richest in golf.
That pushed his season earnings, including bonuses, to just under $62.3 million.
It was the greatest year since Tiger Woods won eight times in 2006, including six in a row and two majors, all while dealing with the death of his father. Scheffler's eight wins included the Masters, The Players Championship, an Olympic gold medal and the Tour Championship that enabled him to finally claim the FedEx Cup.
His seven PGA Tour titles are the most since Woods in 2007.
“We'll look back on 2024 and it's obviously one of the best individual years that a player has had for a long time,” Rory McIlroy said.
Scheffler took the drama out of the final hour — four of his wins this year were by three shots or more — and finally let out a “WOOO!!” as he stepped inside to sign his card. He hoisted two big trophies, the silver FedEx Cup and his 4-month-old son, Bennett.
The birth of his first child, his bizarre arrest in Louisville, Kentucky, before the second round of the PGA Championship, another Masters green jacket, Olympic gold. This was one season not soon to be forgotten by Scheffler or any other golf fan.
“This is a challenging week,” Scheffler said at the trophy ceremony. “I'm exhausted right now.”
This was the third straight year Scheffler came to East Lake as the top seed, meaning he started the tournament at 10-under par with a two-shot lead. Two years ago, he lost a six-shot lead in the final round to McIlroy.
Scheffler led by at least five shots after each round. But there was a harrowing moment as storm clouds began to threaten. He made two straight bogeys, the second one on a pure shank from a bunker on the reachable par-4 eighth hole. Morikawa made birdie, and the seven-shot deficit he faced after two holes was down to a mere two shots with 10 holes to play.
And then it was over.
Scheffler hit 4-iron to 5 feet on the par-3 ninth for birdie. He hit wedge to 3 feet on No. 10 for birdie, and then swirled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 11th.
“He's not going to just starting making bogeys after that,” Morikawa said of the Scheffler shank. “He's going to do the opposite and he’s going to start hitting golf shots. It almost brought his focus back in for a half second, and that’s something you can’t teach.”
Just like that, his lead was back to five shots. And when he holed a 15-foot eagle putt on the 14th hole, it was a matter of getting to the finish line.
Scheffler referred to the FedEx Cup as a season-long race being “silly” because everything came down to the final week at East Lake. There was no doubting the FedEx Cup got a most appropriate champion.
Scheffler only finished out of the top 10 three times in his 19 starts. He had a pair of runner-up finishes to go along with seven PGA Tour titles.
“He's the guy to beat every single week,” Justin Thomas said. “I don’t think people understand how hard that is to do, when you’re expected to win, when you’re the favorite to win, when every single thing you’re doing is being looked at — good and bad — on the golf course, and how hard it is to get in your own little zone and own little world and truly just quiet the noise.”
Morikawa, the No. 7 seed who started the tournament six shots behind, closed with a 66 and had the lowest score of the Tour Championship at 22-under 262. He won $12.5 million for finishing second in the FedEx Cup.
“Six shots behind was hard against the best player in the world,” Morikawa said. “I tried.”
Sahith Theegala, who called a two-shot penalty on himself Saturday for possibly brushing a small amount of sand on a bunker shot, closed with a 64 and finished third. He finished two shots behind Morikawa and earned a $7.5 million bonus for third place.
Adam Scott, who tied for fourth, turned pro during the peak of Woods in 2000 and did not shy away from the comparisons Scheffler has created because of his consistent level of contending.
“I think it is on par with those great years of Tiger’s,” Scott said. “I think it’s very hard today for anyone to separate themselves as much as Scottie has. I don’t think we’ve seen that in a long time. I think it’s harder to do it today.”
And to think it was just over five months ago when Scheffler was questioned about his putting, and he was coming up on a full year since his last PGA Tour title (he won the unofficial Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas).
His season earnings of $29,228,356 represented about 9.2% of the total purse from tournaments he played. Woods won about 11.6% of the total prize money in tournaments he played during 2000, still regarded as one of the great seasons ever.
The $25 million FedEx Cup prize is unofficial, as is the $8 million he received from the “Comcast Business Top 10” for leading the regular season.
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., finished tied for 14th after a 66 in the final round.
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Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press