World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler claimed an eight-shot victory at the St. Jude Championship on Sunday, marking his first PGA Tour title since January.
The American began the Tour's FedEx Cup Playoff series in convincing style. An early bogey? No big deal! Scheffler responded with five birdies, carding a four-under 66 to finish at 17-under-par total, 263 strokes, at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. South Korea's Kim Si-woo posted a two-under 68, finishing in second place at nine-under-par overall.
'I've had a couple of close calls this year,' Scheffler said. Five second-place finishes and four more top-four results during his drought since his season-opening win in La Quinta, California, speak volumes. 'I felt like after every tournament I was saying, 'Man, I'm playing really good. But the little things just aren't going my way.''
Scheffler entered the final day with a two-shot lead – his first 54-hole lead in over a year. But trouble wasn't far behind: His shot from a greenside bunker on the third hole hit a sprinkler head and bounced into the water. Bogey. That's what you call bad luck.
But Scheffler wouldn't be deterred: He responded with a 10-foot birdie on the fifth hole, then sank putts from 20 feet on the sixth and eleventh, and added a 22-foot birdie on the 13th hole. A six-foot birdie on the 16th was just the exclamation mark, while his pursuers faltered one after another.
Scheffler's friend Sam Burns, who started in the final group tied for second, carded a double-bogey on the third and a bogey on the fifth. He finished the round with a three-over 73, ending up tied for third place with Sweden's Alex Noren at eight-under-par. South Korea's Im Sung-jae, also tied for second overnight, shot a four-over 74 for a tied fifth place. However, that was enough to jump into the top 50 of the FedEx Cup standings and secure his spot for next week's BMW Championship.
Four-time major winner Scheffler, whose week was highlighted by a sensational round of 61 on Friday, celebrated his 21st PGA Tour title. The more than six-month gap since his last victory was his longest title drought since 2023. Back then, he won the Players Championship in March and didn't return to the winner's circle until December at the Hero World Challenge.
Although he had a statistically strong year and missed only one cut, Scheffler admitted: 'You just can't compare that to holding up a trophy. Statistics are one thing, but being able to win golf tournaments is something entirely different,' said Scheffler, who claimed nine wins in 2024 and six in 2025. 'This is a much better feeling than just having another good week statistically.'
