Scottie Scheffler seeking redemption at East Lake

ATLANTA – For a player who did not have a PGA TOUR victory at the start of last year, Scottie Scheffler has quickly accumulated many of the game’s biggest trophies.

There is still one that has eluded him, however, and he has a chance to make amends this week.

Scheffler was without peer last year, the consensus top player in 2022. He won four times, including the Masters, and continued his strong play for the TOUR Championship’s first three rounds. Scheffler amassed a six-shot lead heading into the season’s final round after making birdie on four of the six holes he played early Sunday to complete the rain-delayed third round.

Scheffler, who’d led the FedExCup since March, struggled with his ball-striking in the final round, though, and shot 73, allowing Rory McIlroy to overtake him and win his record-setting third FedExCup. It was a disappointing end to a stellar season, one that saw Scheffler still win the PGA TOUR’s Player of the Year Award.

“East Lake at the end of last year was pretty challenging for me just to handle,” Scheffler said earlier this year. “It was obviously very sad and hard and I didn't expect things to finish that way.”

“By the time I got home, I was worn out. I was mentally, physically drained, emotionally drained.”

Now Scheffler is back atop the TOUR Championship’s leaderboard. As the No. 1 player in the FedExCup standings, Scheffler will begin the tournament with a two-stroke lead over second-ranked Viktor Hovland. Scheffler is the first player to arrive at East Lake atop the FedExCup standings in consecutive years.

Jon Rahm has more wins this season. Like Scheffler in 2022, Rahm has won four times, including the Masters. Scheffler has won twice in 2023 but his unmatched consistency is the reason he sits atop the FedExCup. He has 15 top-10s, four more than anyone else on TOUR. Another one this week would give him 16, the most by anyone since Vijay Singh had 16 in 2005. Scheffler had a span of 18 consecutive starts this season where he finished no worse than 12th.

The strongest ball-striking season by a player not named Tiger Woods is the reason for Scheffler’s success. He leads the TOUR in four Strokes Gained categories and could become the first person in the 20 years of ShotLink stats to lead the TOUR in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Approach-the-Green. His performance in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green is the highest by a player not named Tiger Woods.

“He's hit the ball as good, if not better, than Tiger hit it in 2000,” said McIlroy, “which is the benchmark for all of us.”

McIlroy said Scheffler’s creativity and athleticism have been key to his strong performance this season.

“He’s not afraid to hit shots,” said McIlroy. “Like he'll hit little bunt cuts with the driver. He'll hit big high draws. He plays around with the golf ball a ton. He's got unbelievable hands.”

“I see him work really hard on the range and I see him work like doing his drills and doing all this stuff. But then I feel like once he gets on the golf course he's able to just let all that go and just become so reactive and instinctive and just a pure athlete on the course.”

Winning his first FedExCup would add Scheffler to the short list of players who have won a PLAYERS, major, World Golf Championship and FedExCup Playoffs event. Woods, McIlroy and Henrik Stenson are the only ones to accomplish that feat.

Scheffler has won all of them after starting 2022 without a victory on the PGA TOUR. Winning last year’s World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play got him to No. 1 in the world for the first time. He quickly followed it with a victory at Augusta National, his fourth win in a span of six events.

Scheffler successfully defended his title at this year’s WM Phoenix Open and with his win at THE PLAYERS in March, Scheffler joined Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to hold the Masters and PLAYERS titles simultaneously.

A win at the TOUR Championship would be his third of the season and make him a strong candidate to win the PGA TOUR’s Player of the Year for a second consecutive season. He would be the first player not named Tiger Woods to win the award in back-to-back years since Nick Price in 1993 and 1994.

A FedExCup victory is always meaningful, but especially for Scheffler after last year’s loss.

“What I learned last year is how much fun it is to be in that moment,” Scheffler said, “and how much I like to fight and try to compete to win.”

He has another opportunity this week to end an impressive season on a victorious note.