SCOTTIE Scheffler ended a nearly seven-month winless stretch Sunday (Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, PH time), closing with a four-under 66 for an eight-shot victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and the largest winning margin at TPC Southwind in 68 years, the Associated Press reported.
Scheffler finished at 17-under 263, eight shots ahead of Si Woo Kim, who shot 68. The previous record at TPC Southwind was John Cook’s seven-shot victory in 1996.
Scheffler appeared to be headed for another tense finish after his bunker shot on Sunday bounced off a sprinkler, rolled across the green and went down a slope into the water. What looked like a sure birdie became a bogey, cutting his two-shot lead to one.
As Scheffler and caddie Ted Scott walked over for a penalty drop, Scheffler asked, “When is this going to stop happening?”
The answer came almost immediately.
Scheffler hit a mid-iron to 10 feet for birdie on the next hole and then sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the following hole. The two-shot lead quickly became a runaway victory.
“I felt like I had some close calls this year, so it was nice to finish the tournament off,” Scheffler said.
The victory was Scheffler’s 21st on the PGA Tour, all since 2022, and his second this season. It also marked his 11th consecutive victory after holding a 54-hole lead.
Scheffler had endured five runner-up finishes in nearly seven months before Sunday’s breakthrough. His only previous victory this season came at The American Express in California.
“I felt like a week like this was coming,” Scheffler said. “I felt like I was on repeat all year just being like, ‘Hey, I’m playing solid. I’m close.’ It feels good to be answering some different questions at the end of this week.”
Scheffler earned $3.6 million and clinched an additional $23 million in FedEx Cup bonus money for remaining No. 1 through next week’s BMW Championship. No one can catch him. No one is particularly close in the game at the moment, even when he’s not piling up trophies.
Sam Burns, one of Scheffler’s closest friends in golf, played in the final group and finished tied for third with Alex Noren. Burns shot 73 after making a double bogey on the par-5 third hole.
“I don’t think it would have mattered if I played well,” Burns said. “He was going to be tough to beat today.”
Scheffler’s victory came after a runner-up finish at the 3M Open in Minnesota in his previous start. He credited two weeks at home with helping him prepare for the playoffs.
“I felt like I found something just getting my hands on the club,” he said. “I had a really good kind of prep week coming in, probably the best I played at home over the course of this year. I didn’t really feel like I needed to be on the range hitting balls. I was just getting out playing, competing.”
Some of that preparation came in games with Kim, who moved to a career-best No. 13 in the world despite finishing eight shots behind Scheffler.
Im Sung-jae shot 75 to tie for fifth, but moved from No. 53 to No. 49 in the FedEx Cup standings, earning a spot in the BMW Championship next week in St. Louis. The South Korean has now reached the BMW Championship in every season since joining the PGA Tour in 2019.
Im moved ahead of Keith Mitchell, who missed the cut to the top 50 after hitting his approach from the bank near the 18th fairway into the water and making bogey.
Jordan Spieth also fell short of advancing. He needed four pars over his final four holes but made a bogey on the 15th after finding the water and finished with a 70.
The top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings advance to the BMW Championship and are assured spots in all $20 million signature events next season.
With two postseason tournaments remaining, Scheffler strengthened his case for a fifth consecutive PGA Tour Player of the Year award. / LBG
