Scottie Scheffler closer to breaking record
Trending
ST. LOUIS -- Scottie Scheffler is on the cusp of a PGA Tour record Tiger Woods has held for more than 26 years, one that means next to nothing to the world's No. 1 player because of so many factors in play.
Scheffler is coming off his 21st career PGA Tour victory, all in the last five years. Last week's win was worth $3.6 million, the fifth time this year he has earned $2 million or more. That brought him to within $1,034,756 of surpassing Woods on the career earnings list.
He could do that with a three-way tie for third in the BMW Championship. Just don't look for any sparkling wine, much less a celebration. Prize money began to soar because of Woods, and it spiked with the arrival of LIV Golf. It was a matter of time.
Besides, that's not the way Scheffler keeps score.
"That has a lot to do with the purses and all that," Scheffler said Wednesday. "I'm not really too close to him in terms of career wins. What am I, like a fourth of the way there?"
Close enough. Woods is at 82 wins, tied for the all-time record with Sam Snead.
Money topics at Bellerive Country Club, hosting the BMW Championship for the first time since 2008, is all about 30 players trying to get to East Lake to play for a $40 million purse -- $10 million for the winner -- and the FedEx Cup.
That's not a concern for Scheffler, either, or for the likes of Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young, Rory McIlroy and a host of others who were among the top 50 in the FedEx Cup to advance to the second FedEx Cup playoffs event.
But it is to Gary Woodland, still recovering from brain surgery and at No. 31 with a chance to reach the Tour Championship for the first time in six years. And it is to 46-year-old Adam Scott, the only player in the field who was at Bellerive for the last BMW Championship.
Getting to East Lake all but assures a spot in all four majors. That's a big perk, along with the chance to win a $10 million payoff.
"Making the Tour Championship has always been important," Scott said. "It's always been a marker of your performance throughout the year."
There's a little more at stake for a short list of players -- Scheffler, Fitzpatrick, Young, perhaps even McIlroy. No one has really stood out as PGA Tour player of the year. Scheffler moved to the front with his eight-shot win at the FedEx St. Jude Championship last week. It's only his second win this year, but it goes along with five runner-up finishes and five other top 4s.
Scheffler has played so well he already is guaranteed the $23 million bonus for leading the FedEx Cup through the BMW Championship. That doesn't count toward official earnings.
That number stands at $119,964,411. Perhaps another testament to changing times is that Woods earned his last official paycheck in the 2024 Masters ($44,000), moving his total to $120,999,166. Scheffler won the Masters that year and moved to No. 12 at $57,658,464.
So he has made just over $62.3 million in his last 48 tour starts over two years and four months. Great golf. Big money. It was a matter of time.
And it really doesn't matter to Scheffler.
"Tiger did a lot for the game of golf and he put us in a position where we're able to earn some pretty good stuff financially, so that's something we're very grateful for," Scheffler said. "When you look at where the purses were at before he came out on tour to where they're at now is a pretty stark difference. And we're very thankful for his contributions to the game and hopefully we'll see him back out here competing again soon."
Scheffler's first PGA Tour check was $25,080 for a tie for 43rd at the 2018 St. Jude Classic. Last place at the BMW Championship this week pays $66,000.
The testament to Woods is how long he kept his name atop the career money list.
He took over for Davis Love III -- Love was at the top for all of two weeks -- when Woods tied for second in the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines (total purse was $3 million) on Feb. 13, 2000. Six players in the BMW Championship field weren't even born then.
Talk of money took Scheffler back to his early days of grinding. He had financial freedom with an endorsement deal he signed with Nike, so there was no concern on entry fees in Monday qualifiers or even gas money to get there. But those were fun times to him.
"Just trying to find my place in the game," Scheffler said.
Value of LIV players
Scottie Scheffler is not opposed to the return of LIV Golf players who chased after Saudi money, but with some form of a penalty. Rory McIlroy could see unification at some point, though he paused when asked Wednesday about the value they would bring to the PGA Tour.
"I mean, I'd argue have they brought value to LIV?" McIlroy said at the BMW Championship.
LIV Golf's future is under scrutiny with the Indianapolis event this week being the last one of the year for a league that no longer will get funding from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.
LIV CEO Scott O'Neil remained bullish about plans for 2027 and beyond, saying players would be equity owners and have their commercial rights restored. O'Neil said the plan was to have five team championships overseas and five individual tournaments in the United States scheduled close to the majors for those who qualify for them.
He did not name the lead investor with whom LIV has reached an agreement. Several outlets have identified him as Ted Goldthorpe of BC Partners, who met with players on Tuesday. O'Neil said there was a deadline for players to commit to LIV 2.0 without saying when it is. He also has not mentioned the size of the proposed investment. LIV Golf spent more than $5 billion in five years.
"The entirety of our focus is to get to this transaction and get through it," O'Neil said. "Without the players, that becomes very difficult. I have a good level of confidence in my conversation that we'll have a critical mass of the right players to move this league forward."
The critical players for LIV are Jon Rahm, whose contract end after 2027, and Bryson DeChambeau, whose contract is up this year. Both are two-time major champions and the biggest two names left on LIV Golf.
Brooks Koepka was the first player to return to the PGA Tour this year, with stipulations that he could not play $20 million signature events unless he earned his way, paid $5 million to charity and had no access to equity. The tour put the penalty value at $50 million and upward.
The tour then offered the same deal -- and two weeks to decide on it -- to Rahm, DeChambeau and Cameron Smith, all major champions dating to the launch of LIV in 2022.
"When we talk about the best players, LIV has a few players that are really good," Scheffler said. "I think the depth that we have on our tour is unmatched, but I think when you look at the higher levels of LIV Golf there's definitely some players that would provide a lot of value to the tour, and guys that I love competing against as well.
"So I think going forward there obviously has to be, I think, some sort of penalties."
What those penalties are he said would be up to PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp.
McIlroy has been the biggest critic of LIV from the start. He has toned down his rhetoric over the years, though he suggested in February 2025 that players "have to get over it" when it comes to finding a way to bring defectors back.
He sounded more reluctant Wednesday, noting that top players had their chances to return at the start of the year and whatever offer likely would not be as good as it was for Koepka.
"I'm not part of these discussions, but I'm pretty sure they're not going to be welcomed back straight away," McIlroy said. "I think it was said at the time that the deal that they might get going forward -- if they do decide to come back -- isn't going to be as good as the one that Brooks got.
"So, yeah, I would say it's going to be a tough, tough road back."
And it's going to be tough on LIV, particularly with at least two lawsuits pending from vendors.
Canadian-based Mobbi Systems Group field a lawsuit in Miami last month. The technology company that supplied LIV's "Any Shot, Any Time" feature on broadcasts is asking more than $1 million for outstanding invoices and lost revenue.
In another lawsuit filed last month in New York, Colorado-based Fresh Tape Media is asking for more than $1.2 million LIV owes for the company to produce its preseason media preview days.
"What I would say to them is we're doing everything we can to make sure we can do right by them and the work they committed, and I hope we can," O'Neil said. "For the next generation, it will certainly be a different business with a different process."