Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Atlanta: Scottie Scheffler ended any conversation about who had the best season on Sunday (Monday morning, AEST) when he made up a three-shot deficit with a 4-under 66 to win the Tour Championship, claim a second FedEx Cup title, and move past Tiger Woods for the most money won on the US PGA Tour.
Scheffler signalled his rally with a 5-iron to within 5cm of the cup on the 211-yard second hole. He caught Viktor Hovland with a 25-foot birdie on the fourth hole, pulled ahead for the first time on the 13th and then held on to win at East Lake.
“This was a week I brought a lot of good energy to the course and tried to do my best,” Scheffler said at the trophy presentation. “Coming from behind and being able to win tournaments is a really cool feeling.”
Scheffler won for the third time this year — twice in the last three weeks during the PGA Tour’s postseason — to match Chris Gotterup, Matt Fitzpatrick and US Open champion Wyndham Clark for most titles in 2026. He won his first FedEx Cup two years ago.
Players vote on the Jack Nicklaus Award for PGA Tour player of the year. Scheffler has won the award in each of the last four years — another would tie him with Woods for most consecutive awards.
Taking over the top spot in career earnings was inevitable. The US$40 million ($55 million) purse at the Tour Championship now counts as official money. Scheffler won $10 million, pushing his career total to $US130,390,661 ($181 million).
Woods, who never played for more than a $10 million purse during his peak years from 1997 through 2008, had been at the top of the career money list for nearly 26 years.
While Scheffler continued on his all-conquering ways, a day that started with high hopes ended unhappily for Australian Adam Scott.
Scott started the day within striking distance of overnight leader Hovland but was unable to threaten the leaders. Bogeys on the final two holes saw him finish in a tie for 11th.
Sunday’s finale proved more productive for fellow Australian Min Woo Lee.
After stunning the field with an opening-round 62, Lee finished the week in a tie for fourth after a final round of 68.
At the top of the leaderboard, it was a small slice of redemption for Scheffler, who lost in a playoff to Hovland at the Travelers Championship, one of his five runner-up finishes this year.
Scheffler had two bogeys — one a bad miss with a wedge from the fairway on the seventh hole, the other from a gnarly lie in the rough on the 14th — and still was the only player from the last three groups of the final round to break par.
The final birdie came from a fairway bunker to 11 feet on the 16th. Hovland had three putts in a four-hole stretch catch the lip of the cup and not fall in — two for birdie, one for par.
Ryan Gerard, one shot behind Hovland staring out, made double bogey on the opening hole, followed by 13 straight pars. He shot 72 to finish alone in third.
Scheffler ended the year with the 22nd title of his career — 13 of them by at least three shots — and 25th worldwide, including an Olympic gold medal in Paris two years ago.
AP
