ATLANTA — Scottie Scheffler capped off golf's biggest year in nearly two decades by winning the game's biggest prize.
Scheffler struggled at one point in the Tour Championship on Sunday, but fought back with three straight birdies to make his win look as certain as it had all year. He finished with a 4-under 67 to beat Collin Morikawa by four strokes and claim the FedEx Cup and golf's biggest prize of $25 million.
That brings his season earnings, including bonuses, to just under $62.3 million.
It was his best year since Tiger Woods in 2006, when he won six straight tournaments and eight championships, including two majors, while overcoming the death of his father. Scheffler's eight wins included victories at the Masters, The Players Championship, an Olympic gold medal and the TOUR Championship, where he finally won the FedExCup.
His seven PGA Tour wins are the most since Woods in 2007.
“When you look back at 2024, it's clear that it was one of the best years for a player in a long time,” Rory McIlroy said.
Scheffler wrapped up a dramatic final hour — four of his wins this year have been by three strokes or more — and then, finally, let out a “WOW!” as he went inside to sign his card and hoisted the two big trophies he held up: the silver FedEx Cup and his 4-month-old son, Bennett.
The birth of his first child, a bizarre arrest in Louisville, Kentucky before the second round of the PGA Championship, another green jacket at the Masters, an Olympic gold medal — it was a season that Scheffler, or any other golf fan, won't soon forget.
“This is a tough week,” Scheffler said at the trophy ceremony. “I'm exhausted right now.”
Scheffler entered East Lake as the No. 1 seed for the third straight year and started the tournament with a two-stroke lead at 10 under par, after losing a six-stroke lead to McIlroy in the final round two years ago.
Scheffler led by at least five strokes after each round, but then came a scary moment as storm clouds began to close in. Scheffler made two consecutive bogeys, the second of which he completely shanked from a bunker on the par-4 eighth hole. Morikawa made a birdie to trail by seven strokes after two holes, but was down to just two with 10 holes to go.
And it was over.
Scheffler hit a 4-iron to 5 feet for birdie on the par-3 ninth hole, hit a wedge to 3 feet for birdie on the 10th hole and then made a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 11th hole.
“He doesn't just start hitting bogeys after that,” Morikawa said of Scheffler's shank. “He does the opposite and starts hitting golf shots. He regains his focus for about a half second, and that's something you can't teach.”
His lead was again down to five strokes, and when he made a 15-foot eagle putt on the 14th hole, he just had to reach the finish line.
Scheffler called the season-long FedExCup a “ridiculous” race because everything was decided in the final week at East Lake. There was no doubt the FedExCup had a most deserving champion.
Scheffler has finished outside the top 10 just three times in 19 starts, has two runner-up finishes and won seven times on the PGA Tour.
“He's the guy to beat every week,” Justin Thomas said. “I don't think people understand how hard it is when you're expected to win, when you're the favorite to win, when everything you do on the golf course is being watched, good or bad, and how hard it is to get into your own little zone, your own little world and really quiet the noise.”
Morikawa, the seventh seed who started the tournament six strokes behind, finished with a 66 for a score of 22-under 262, the worst score in the Tour Championship, and won $12.5 million for finishing second in the FedEx Cup.
“Being six strokes behind against the best player in the world was tough,” Morikawa said. “I did my best.”
Sahith Teegala was penalized two strokes Saturday for possibly nibbling some sand on a bunker shot, but he still managed to finish in third place with a final-round 64. He finished two strokes behind Morikawa and won the $7.5 million third-place bonus.
Adam Scott, who tied for fourth place, turned professional in 2000 when Woods was at the peak of his career and was not afraid to draw comparisons with Scheffler with his consistently competitive nature.
“I think it's on par with Tiger's prime,” Scott said. “I think it's really hard now to stand out like Scottie has. I don't think we've seen that in a long time. I think it's even harder now.”
Scheffler was asked about his putting just about five months ago, nearly a full year since his last PGA Tour win (he won the unofficial Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas).
His season winnings of $29,228,356 represents about 9.2% of the total prize money from the tournaments he played in. Woods won about 11.6% of the total prize money from the tournaments he played in in 2000, a year that is still considered one of the greatest seasons of all time.
The $25 million in FedExCup prize money is unofficial, as is the $8 million he received from the Comcast Business Top 10 for leading the regular season.
