Scottie Scheffler runs away with FedEx St. Jude Championship to end nearly seven-month title drought
MEMPHIS, Tenn.— Scottie Scheffler was back to his dominant form Sunday, turning a two-shot lead into a runaway in the FedEx St.
Jude Championship.He closed with a 4-under 66 for an eight-shot victory, the largest in the 68-year history at the TPC Southwind.Scheffler ended nearly seven months without winning, a season that has been marked by astonishing consistency but only one trophy to show for it from his season opener at The American Express in the California desert.This was only close for a fleeting moment.
After months of little things getting in the way, Scheffler hit a bunker shot on the par-5 third that would have settled a few feet away for a tap-in birdie.But it landed on a sprinkler head, took a hard hop and rolled through the green into the water for bogey.“I was like, ‘Man, when is this going to stop happening?’” Scheffler said.That shrunk his lead to one shot over Sungjae Im.
Then Scheffler made consecutive birdie putts on the fifth and sixth holes and was on his way.Playing in the final group in stifling heat and the most wind all week, Scheffler matched the best score Sunday.He finished at 17-under 263, eight shots clear of his Dallas neighbor Si Woo Kim, who closed with a 68 to finish eight shots behind.
The previous record was John Cook winning at TPC Southwind by seven shots in 1996.Scheffler now has 21 career victories on the PGA Tour, 10 of them by four shots or more.Sam Burns, one of Scheffler’s best friends in golf, played with him in the final group and took double bogey on the par-5 third hole.He shot 73 and tied for third with Alex Noren (69).“I don’t think it would have mattered if I played well,” Burns said.
“He was going to be tough to beat today.”Scheffler won $3.6 million from the prize fund, and he clinched an additional $23 million in bonus money for being No.1 in the FedEx Cup through next week’s BMW Championship.
No one can catch him.No one is particularly close in the game at the moment, even when he...