Golf

All of Scottie Scheffler’s Most Remarkable Wins on the PGA Tour So Far

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Sep 08, 2024 / 2167 Views

Evan Walker

Despite having peers admitting that he was the man to beat every time the PGA Tour pitched tent for a tournament in 2024, Scottie Scheffler had his moments of uncertainty. He was the one at the centre of action, quashing comPetition en route to seven wins this season, but the mind is known to be a strange space. Ahead of his participation in the upcoming Presidents Cup, we look back on the biggest wins and records set by Scottie Scheffler.

What has contributed to Scheffler’s dominance as World No 1, and now the 2024 FedExCup champion, is the way he has handled the doubts that occasionally creep in.

There are a quite a few instances when he searched for answers, and the latest episode was the final day of the Tour Championship at the East Lake Golf Club. Despite starting the FedExCup Playoffs’ finale week with a cushion courtesy of his top status on the FedExCup rankings, Scheffler saw his comfortable lead dwindle.

With Collin Morikawa in hot pursuit, Scheffler appeared to falter. The lead down to two shots at one point, it took his caddie, Ted Scott, to remind him of greatness: “Just remember who you are, you’re Scottie Scheffler.”

The words were enough to spur Scheffler to complete the unfinished business. For the third straight year, he had come into the Tour Championship as the top-ranked player, but was yet to win the finale of the Playoffs. A string of good shots ensured it got done.

Not just the week gone by, whenever Scheffler did not find himself in a good place on the Golf course, he was, with the help of his team, able to learn from the experience.

The learnings and re-learnings, as he called them, to sharpen his biggest weapon — his attitude — have been the hallmark of Scheffler’s victory march into a league that had just two men, Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh, with seven or more wins in a PGA Tour season.

The season isn’t over yet and the opportunities ahead are immense, but as the star golfer pauses to catch a breath and start preparations for the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal later this month from September 24 to 29, we celebrate Scottie Scheffler, his incredible wins, and a season that is unlikely to be replicated in a hurry.

Revisiting all the remarkable wins by Scottie Scheffler on the 2024 PGA Tour

Arnold Palmer Invitational (March 7-10, 2024)

Earnings: USD 4 million

The first of his wins in 2024, the five-shot triumph by Scottie Scheffler at 15-under 273 (70, 67, 70, 66) was the largest margin of victory since Woods won by five in 2012.

Showing signs that putting, considered his weak link for some time, was now a strength, Scheffler showed up at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge on the back of some strong results at the start of the year.

His seventh career win came on the back of the lowest 72-hole total, and he was the first player to post rounds of 70 or lower since Rory McIlroy in 2018.

The Players Championship (March 14-17, 2024)

Earnings: USD 4.5 million

Like his previous seven wins on the PGA Tour, Scheffler notched his eighth at the start of the season, and the setting couldn’t have been more iconic than TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course.

The one-shot win at 20-under 268 (67, 69, 68, 64) helped Scheffler become the first player to defend a title at the Players, and second after Woods to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship multiple times.

The Masters (April 11-14, 2024)

Earnings: USD 3.6 million

The Scheffler juggernaut gathered pace at the season’s first Major Championship. The setting was the Augusta National Golf Club, and Scheffler’s winning total of 11-under 277 (66, 72, 71, 68) left him in a unique space as the first to win nine times on the PGA Tour in the space of three seasons since Justin Thomas’ feat between 2016-17 and 2018-19.

Coming into the week as the Players’ champion, Scheffler joined Woods as the only ones to win the Masters in the same season, and the third to win the Players Championship and Masters multiple times after Jack Nicklaus and Woods.

RBC Heritage (April 18-21, 2024)

Earnings: USD 3.6 million

Scheffler’s win at Harbour Town Golf Links came with a slew of records. The winning total of 19-under 265 (69, 65, 63, 68) made him the first to win 10 or more times over three seasons since Dustin Johnson’s run between 2015-16 and 2017-18.

Scheffler also matched his career-best four wins in a season after 2022, and joined Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson and Woods with multiple four-win seasons since the start of 2000.

The Memorial Tournament (June 6-9, 2024)

Earnings: USD 4 million

Scheffler’s wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship reinforced his reputation as the man to beat at the PGA Tour’s Signature Events. The title at Muirfield Village, with tournament host Jack Nicklaus looking on, cast Scheffler’s status in stone.

The margin of victory was slim, but the 8-under 280 (67, 68, 71, 74) a week before the US Open, the season’s second Major, allowed Scheffler to slip next to Arnold Palmer as the only player since 1950 with five wins, including a Major, before the US Open.

Travelers Championship (June 20-23, 2024)

Earnings: USD 3.6 million

By beating Joohyung (Tom) Kim in a playoff after both players tied at 22-under 258, Scheffler’s win at TPC River Highlands meant an exponential spurt in converting a week into a win.

In 10 starts, Scheffler had won six times, and with it became only the fourth player with six or more Tour wins in a season since 1983, and first since Woods in 2009.

His season earnings touched USD 27,696,858 at that point, and Scheffler set the record for the most earnings for the third consecutive season (USD 14,046,910 in 2021-22 and USD 21,014,342 in 2022-23).

Tour Championship (August 29-September 1, 2024)

Despite his prolific 2024 season, Scheffler wasn’t about to rest on his laurels. For two years he had teed off at the Tour Championship as leader of the FedExCup rankings, but always fell short in the quest for the ultimate prize in the Playoffs.

This time round, his season’s first win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational gave him the lead in the FedExCup, and 25 weeks later, Scheffler was still atop the rankings.

It was the longest streak since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007, and Scheffler was determined that the time to set the record right was now.

He seemed on course well into Sunday at the East Lake Golf Club till the stutter towards the close of his front-nine made it interesting with Morikawa on the cry. The two factors that defined Scheffler’s season kicked in to arrest a potential slide. The pep talk from his caddie led Scheffler to rediscover touch with some solid putting on the back-nine.

Scheffler made it a point to mention both after becoming the first player to win the Players Championship, at least one Major and the FedExCup in the same season.

“Teddy gives me good speeches all the time. That is why he’s such a good caddie. I don’t think a day goes by that he is not giving me some pretty decent advice or a good laugh when I need it.”

On putting, the take was, “I made putts this year when I really needed to, and that’s why I’m here with a lot of wins instead of a few. Last year I was playing good golf and I wasn’t able to make the key putts at the right time, that’s really the difference.”

Paris Olympic Games (August 1-4, 2024)

This one does not count among his wins on the PGA Tour, but Scottie Scheffler will cherish mounting the podium at Le Golf National as the top name, and also the poignant moments of his whole Olympics experience. He stood teary-eyed with the gold medal around his neck as the US national anthem “Star-Spangled Banner” played and the “Stars and Stripes” was unfurled.

At 19-under 265 (67, 69, 67), he came from behind and won by a shot after tying the course record of 62 to be the first No 1 in Olympic Golf Rankings to be crowned champion at the Games.

“I still don’t understand why the Olympics doesn’t count. That’s part of the greed that goes on in your brain and you say seven, ‘I’m like, I won eight’…I’m proud of the results. Though it’s something I try not to focus too much on, but at the end of the day, being able to win tournaments is a great feeling, and it’s what we work towards,” he said.

More about Scottie Scheffler and his wins on the 2024 PGA Tour here.

(Main and featured image: Kevin C. Cox/ Getty Images North America/ Getty Images via AFP)