Scottie Scheffler is tired. After the year he’s had, can anyone really blame him?
The world No. 1 capped off a year in equal parts historic and haywire with triumph at the season-ending Tour Championship on Sunday, cruising to a four-shot victory in Atlanta.
Having begun the week with a two-stroke lead at the summit on 10-under par, a reward for his position atop the FedEx Cup standings, the American eased around East Lake with a closing four-under 67 to beat compatriot Collin Morikawa to the $25 million winner’s cut of a $100 million prize purse.
It marks the first time since Tiger Woods in 2007 that a player has tallied seven wins in a PGA Tour season, a haul made even more impressive when you add in the Olympic gold, a newborn son and the mid-major arrest that headlined Scheffler’s stunning campaign.
“I feel like I’ve lived almost a full lifetime in this one year,” Scheffler told reporters. “It’s been nuts.”
“I’m exhausted right now,” he added. “There’s really no other way around it. I’m just really, really tired.”
A golden year
Scheffler’s starting advantage at East Lake was his reward for a stellar campaign.
The 28-year-old looked almost unbeatable during a prolific early season run, becoming the first player to ever defend The Players Championship before victory at the RBC Heritage in April – just one week on from clinching his second Masters title at Augusta National – made it four wins in five starts.
His greatest prize followed mere weeks later, as wife Meredith gave birth to the couple’s first child, Bennett. Their son arrived just in time for the PGA Championship, where the Texan was subsequently arrested amid remarkable scenes in Louisville.
The tournament favorite had warmed up in a jail cell after he was arrested driving around a police roadblock outside Valhalla Golf Club. Though the week ended in frustration on the course, with Scheffler finishing eight shots behind victor Xander Schauffele, all charges were dismissed a fortnight later.
Scheffler rebounded to add two more wins at the Memorial Tournament and Travelers Championship respectively before a stunning nine-under par final round at Le Golf National in Paris last month saw him clinch Olympic gold.
“I think when you hear people chanting ‘U-S-A’, even though it’s been over a month now since it happened … It’s pretty cool,” Scheffler said.
“I take a lot of pride in being an American, so it was pretty fun to bring home that gold medal. As far as the year goes, I really don’t know how to put it into words.
“You had the one weird spot there at Valhalla – I just don’t really know what to say about it – but everything else has been pretty special,” he added.
‘Just nothing fazes him’
It looked set to be a procession before Scheffler made a string of uncharacteristic errors towards the end of his front nine, starting with a skewed drive at the seventh that left him needing to escape from under a tree.
That led to a bogey that was replicated at the following hole when the leader shanked his effort from a greenside bunker, opening the door for a flying Morikawa to move within two strokes.
Fittingly for the season, any murmur of tension was immediately wiped out by Scheffler, who rattled off three consecutive birdies before lasering in for eagle at the par-five 15th to canter home ahead of world No. 4 Morikawa.
“Just nothing fazes him,” Morikawa, who pocketed $12.5 million, reflected to reporters about Scheffler.
“Whether I was close in gaining some ground or he was gaining ground, it didn’t change how he walked, how he played or how he went through every shot. That’s something to learn. I think his mental game is a lot stronger than a lot of people know.
“It’s amazing what he’s been able to do for this entire season and over these past three years. It’s been really cool to watch him, and hopefully, I can draw something from that.”
Attention for both Morikawa and Scheffler will now turn to the Presidents Cup, with both players automatically qualified for US captain Jim Furyk’s team that will take on Mike Weir’s international side at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Quebec, Canada, on September 24.
Scheffler was part of a victorious US team at Quail Hollow, North Carolina, two years ago but struggled individually, losing three of his four matches.
“Emotionally right now, I’m pretty drained, so I’m looking forward to going home and getting rest for a week or so before I start prepping for the Presidents Cup because that’s a tournament that I really want us to go out there and win,” Scheffler said.
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