ATLANTA — Scottie Scheffler has previously explained that he doesn't like the format of the FedExCup playoffs, and he also doesn't praise the handicapping system used at the Tour Championship.
Maybe it's because he's come to East Lake as the leading player each of the past two years, two strokes ahead at 10 under par, yet has yet to secure a victory — or the $25 million that comes with a FedEx Cup title — but Scheffler is again the man not to be beaten, and he'll start Thursday's first round at 10 under par for the third straight year.
Like his beloved Dallas CowboysThe Warriors have won the NFC East in two of the past three seasons, but have not appeared in the NFC Championship Game since 1995.
“The Cowboys have been great the last few years in the regular season and then they've kind of given me grief in the playoffs,” Scheffler joked Tuesday.
“But golf is a different sport, and in a season-long race, the person who plays the best all season may not always win. [whoever wins the FedEx Cup is] “It's going to be the guy who plays the best in these playoff events. Really what you're identifying is the guy who plays the best in these last three events.”
Scheffler remains atop the FedEx Cup rankings despite a recent tie for 33rd at the BMW Championship in Castle Pines, Colo., but his six wins and 15 top 10s this season make him well-deserving of that top spot. Since winning back-to-back weekends at Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass in mid-March, Scheffler has been the best player in the world.
Either way, the playoffs are different.
“Golden State Warriors“You play the best regular season in history and lose in the finals. That happens,” Scheffler added, drawing an analogy from professional sports.
“When you look at a guy like Keegan Bradley, who came out last week, had a great week and won the tournament, you can see he was out at East Lake and has a really great opportunity to win the FedExCup. So it's a great system in that sense. It's a system that digs deeper than just identifying the best player over the course of the season, and in a lot of other major sports, it's not necessarily the best team that wins.”
Bradley went from last to first, coming in 50th in the rankings to win at Castle Pines. Next year's Ryder Cup captain currently arrives at East Lake ranked 4th and will start the Tour Championship at 6 under par, four strokes behind Scheffler.
But for Scheffler, and other PGA Tour pros, the FedEx Cup Playoffs don't carry nearly the same weight as the four majors, which mean everything to a player and his or her legacy — just ask Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
“I don't know if the FedExCup is the American equivalent of the Super Bowl, but economically it is,” Scheffler said, referring to the $100 million prize money this week.
“But maybe not in the history of golf. You'll have to ask the players. But at the end of the day, I want to win every golf tournament I'm playing in and right now I'm leading by two strokes, which is pretty awesome.”
Still, Scheffler isn't a fan of the current format, even saying he preferred the previous format because East Lake often produced two winners: a Tour champion and a FedEx Cup champion.
But the world number one ranked player kept his fans in mind and offered a fresh perspective with his approach.
“I think a little bit of variability is good for the fans and good for the guys who didn't have their best year leading up to making the playoffs, and all of a sudden a not-yet-best year turns into the best year of their career in terms of winning a FedExCup,” Scheffler said.
“There's a lot of variability, but at the end of the day, golf is golf. The easiest way to fix something you don't like in golf is to play better. That's what it comes down to in our game. At the end of the day, if you play good enough golf, it takes care of itself.”
Winning always works itself out, regardless of the sport. In professional sports, the noise fades away because championships matter more than anything else. Just ask Scheffler what he did at Augusta National in 2022 and 2024. Or ask the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
