Weekly Fantasy Golf Recap: Scottie Back in the Win Column

Everyone can stand down now. You can get off the ledge and go back inside. Hug your kids. Hug your dog. All is right with the universe once again. Or at least the golf universe.

Scottie Scheffler, after a seven-month eternity all but measured in dog years, has finally won another tournament.

Scheffler didn't just win it, though. He obliterated an elite field in the first event of the PGA Tour playoffs, the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, capturing the title by eight shots.

Our long national nightmare is over.

The world No. 1 forged into the lead on Friday with a 9-under 61. He didn't run away until Sunday, however, after beginning the day with a two-shot lead. Si Wo Kim ended up in second place, at 9-under to Scheffler's 17-under.

The eight-stroke margin is the largest on Tour since Scheffler won the 2025 Byron Nelson by eight shots.

"On Friday, being able to have a really low round was important," he said. "To put myself in the lead after 36 holes was good. I felt like I've been playing from behind a lot this year. So it was nice to come out and have a lead after 36 holes and then after 54 holes."

After winning the Amex back in January in his first tournament of the season, Scheffler finished runner-up five times and third twice. In all, he's had 12 top-10s and 17 top-25s in 18 starts.

It was a season historically great in all ways but one – the number of wins.

This victory was the 21st of Scheffler's PGA Tour career. At age 30, 1 month and 26 days, he became the third youngest golfer to do so (since 1970). The two ahead of him? Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. And he overtook Tom Watson, who had been third youngest.

Scheffler won eight times in 2024 and six times in 2025. He easily could've matched those totals this season if only a few shots went a different way. As it is, there's still time to get to four wins. He'd need to win this week's BMW Championship and then the season-ending Tour Championship 

There's at least a chance of that happening, especially if Scheffler putts the way he did at TPC Southwind. He gained almost nine strokes on the field for the best putting day of his career.

Entering the week, there was a presumed five-way race for the PGA Tour Player of the Year. Now, that award is Scheffler's to lose.

Which is kind of where everyone expected everything to be in mid-August, right?

Only this year, Scheffler took a circuitous route to get to where he always ends up.

"Yeah, I think when you're close -- it's not easy to win out here," he said. "I felt like this year, the year that I've had kind of shows that, how difficult it is. We have a lot of talented guys, and I played some really solid golf over the course of this year, but I hadn't played much kind of great golf. …

"I felt like a week like this was coming. I felt like I was on repeat all year just being like, hey, I'm playing solid. I'm close. It feels good to be answering some different questions at the end of this week."

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Si Woo Kim
This has to be one of the best non-win seasons we've ever seen. This was Kim's third runner-up, to go with two thirds, six top-5s and 11 top-10s. He is now fourth in the FedEx Cup point standings, behind only three guys with multiple wins – and ahead of two others with multiple wins. Kim could be in the mix again at the BMW Championship at another ball-striker's track at Bellerive.

Sam Burns

It may sound silly to say that Burns was close again, in a tournament decided by eight shots.
But in tying for third, he beat all but two guys. And he began the day only two shots behind Scheffler. This was Burns' fourth top-5 of the season – all in big tournaments: two majors, the Memorial and now a playoff event.

Alex Noren
What a week for Noren. What a surge he's made at the end of the season. He began the week in 46th place in points – in danger of not advancing to the BMW – and wound up 34th after tying for third, his best showing all season. He led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach. Noren is now in decent position to jump into the top-30 next week and reach his first Tour Championship. He did not register a top-10 in the first four months of the season and now he has four, including the past two weeks at the Wyndham (T7) and FedEx St. Jude.

Sungjae Im
Im had a forgettable Sunday with a 4-over 74. But he was the one golfer this week to move from outside the top-50 to inside. He started at No. 53 in the point standings and now is 40th. For a guy who missed the first two months of the season with a wrist injury, that's pretty dang good. In jumping into the top-50, Im knocked out Keith Mitchell.

Bud Cauley
The PGA Tour doesn't give out Comeback Player of the Year anymore. But if they did, Cauley would win it. He closed with a 67 to tie for 12th and, more importantly, move from 34th in points to 29th. That doesn't ensure him a spot in the Tour Championship, but it's certainly a plus starting inside the top-30. This was the 36-year-old Cauley's ninth top-25 on the season.

Adam Scott
Scott is 46 years old. He doesn't play a ton. Just 17 starts all season. But after tying for 12th, there's a better than 50-50 shot he'll be going to the Tour Championship. Scott moved from 29th in points to 27th after his 10th top-25 of the season.

Jordan Spieth
Spieth tied for 20th. But no one ended the week in worse shape than he did. He started 54th in points and wound up 52nd. This season would not have been anywhere close to a success for Spieth without a spot in the Tour Championship. Now, he didn't even make the BMW. Making things worse, Spieth was in good shape with nine holes to go, then proceeded to shoot 2-over 37 on the back. He did not notch a single top-10 all season. He remains a top-5 player in terms of popularity. But this season, he wasn't even a top-50 player on the course. And it's fair to wonder whether he'll ever be a top-10 or even top-20 player again.

Max Homa
Homa did better than last year in qualifying for the playoffs. But truth is, he had only a couple of good weeks all season – a runner-up at the John Deere and a tie for ninth at the Masters. It was enough to get him to Memphis. Otherwise, he wasn't appreciably better this season than last.

Alex Smalley
There are a number of surprises inside the top-30 right now. Perhaps none bigger than Smalley. He tied for 24th to move from 25th in points to 23rd, guaranteeing he will be at East Lake for the first time in his career. He's had two runners-up this season – notably at the PGA Championship – plus five top-10s and 11 top-25s in 22 starts.

Jackson Koivun
The 21-year-old rookie had another good week in tying for 24th. But, beginning the week in 70th place in the point standings, he needed a great one. It doesn't minimize what he has done in so few starts in 2026, just seven. We should see him a bit in the fall season and, before the year ends, maybe in Europe via some sponsor invites. He is a hot name in demand.

J.T. Poston
Poston tied for 24th and, in doing so, fell from 30th to 32nd in points. He surely can get back inside this week, but he missed a chance to lock up a spot at East Lake.

Keith Mitchell
Mitchell began the week in 49th place. He needed a birdie on 18 on Sunday to advance to the BMW. He almost found the water on his first shot, then did on his second, wound up with bogey and was done. He ended in a tie for 34th on the week to fall to 51st in points.

Rickie Fowler
Fowler tied for 34th and, as a result, did not give himself any room for error heading into the BMW. He fell from 28th in points to 30th.

Gary Woodland
Woodland closed with a 3-over 74 and tied for 42nd. It knocked him out of the top-30, from 27th to 31st.

Matt McCarty
McCarty is fortunate to still be around. He could not break par all week and wound up 63rd of the 69 golfers in the field. But he fell only from 48th in points to 50th, and thus will be in the field at the BMW.

Rory McIlroy
No one knew whether McIlroy would even play. He skipped Memphis last year. He did wind up playing, committing at the last minute, though some wonder how committed he was. He was never a factor and tied for 66th.

Robert MacIntyre
MacIntyre withdrew after shooting an 82 in the first round. No reason was given. He began the week in good position at 31st in points, but now heads to the BMW in 36th place.

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