[PHOTO: Jared C. Tilton]
It was a bittersweet and frustrating conclusion to what had been another phenomenal year for Scottie Scheffler. While the outcome at East Lake wasn’t what the defending champion had envisioned, the Texan still etched his name in the record books.
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Facing a four-shot deficit entering the final round, Scheffler’s title defence got off to an inauspicious when his opening drive sailed out-of-bounds, immediately putting him on the back foot. Displaying the resilience that defined his championship season, he managed to limit the damage with a scrambling bogey and rallied on the front nine, posting a solid three-under 33 to stay within striking distance. The inflection point came at the treacherous par-3 15th hole, where Scheffler stood on the tee just three behind leader Tommy Fleetwood. However, Scheffler’s tee shot found the water, leading to a crushing double-bogey that effectively ended his hopes.
Though Scheffler responded with a bounce-back birdie, the damage was irreversible. His two-under 68 left him four shots adrift of Fleetwood in a tie for fourth place – close enough to sting, yet far enough to mark the end of his FedEx Cup reign.
“Battled all week to give myself a chance,” Scheffler said afterwards. “I wasn’t as sharp as I would have hoped to [be]. I had a good first round, but outside of that didn’t really play my best the first few days. Still gave myself a shot. Just needed a few better swings.”
The transformation of Scheffler’s 2025 was remarkable. Cast your mind back just a few months, when golf pundits were genuinely puzzled by Scheffler’s early-season form. After his early-season injury layoff, the world No.1 was producing solid but unspectacular results – the kind of performances that had analysts scratching their heads and wondering if the game’s most dominant force had somehow lost his magic touch. How quickly the narrative can change.
Five victories punctuated his season, including legacy-building moments at the PGA Championship and Open Championship. But it was Scheffler’s statistical stranglehold that truly set him apart – leading virtually every meaningful category from scoring average to strokes gained to the regular-season FedEx Cup standings. Even in defeat at East Lake, Scheffler was still adding to his résumé. His finish today marked the 14th consecutive finish of eighth place or better, a streak of sustained excellence that hadn’t been matched since Ben Hogan’s run through the 1950s. The consistency extends beyond final positions – Scheffler’s run of 21 straight rounds in the 60s also tied a PGA Tour record.
“I think sometimes people’s expectations and stuff of me can change. For me, nothing really changes,” Scheffler said. “I’m not satisfied with where I’m at. I’m always trying to get a little bit better. I think that’s just part of the game. I think that’s what I love about golf is you’re always trying to get a little bit better. I feel like this year I improved my putting from last year, and that was really the one area of the game that I’ve been working quite hard on. Phil [Kenyon] and I have been doing a lot of stuff, and it’s nice to get some good results from that. Yeah, that’s the reason I was able to win some more tournaments this year.”
As for what’s next, Scheffler did say he would play in Napa, California, in two weeks as a Ryder Cup tune-up before heading to Bethpage, although he is looking for a little downtime.
“For me, I take things day by day and week by week,” Scheffler said. “Looking at this week, I felt like I could have been a little sharper the past few days to give myself a better chance. But overall, now I have a little time to reflect on the season, and it was a really good year. I have some stuff that I can try to improve on, and that’s what I’ll start focusing on after the Ryder Cup.”
