Scottie Scheffler opens postseason with dominating win
National golf
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Scottie Scheffler thought the bunker shot was ideal until he saw it bounce hard off a sprinkler, roll across the green and disappear down the slope and into the water. A sure birdie turned into a bogey. His two-shot lead Sunday in the FedEx St. Jude Championship was down to one.
For a player who has endured five runner-up finishes in nearly seven months of close calls, Scheffler had reason to wonder what was next to go wrong. He asked caddie Ted Scott as they walked over to take a penalty drop, "When is this going to stop happening?"
Almost immediately, as it turned out.
Scheffler drilled a mid-iron to 10 feet for birdie two holes later. He holed a 20-foot birdie on the next. A two-shot lead at the start quickly turned into a runaway. He closed with a 4-under 66 for an eight-shot victory, the largest margin in 68 years at the TPC Southwind.
"I felt like I had some close calls this year, so it was nice to finish the tournament off," Scheffler said.
It helped to post a 61 in the second round and keep the lead going into Sunday. This was his 11th straight time he converted a 54-hole lead into a win.
This victory was the 21st of his career -- all since 2022 -- and it ended nearly seven months without a title during a season that has been marked by astonishing consistency but only one trophy to show for it from his season opener at The American Express in the California desert.
"I felt like a week like this was coming," Scheffler said. "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."
He finished at 17-under 263, eight shots clear of his Dallas neighbor Si Woo Kim, who closed with a 68 to finish eight shots behind. The previous record was John Cook winning at TPC Southwind by seven shots in 1996.
Scheffler has now won 10 of his 21 tour titles by four shots or more.
Sam Burns, one of Scheffler's best friends in golf, played with him in the final group and took double bogey on the par-5 third hole. He shot 73 and tied for third with Alex Noren (69).
"I don't think it would have mattered if I played well," Burns said. "He was going to be tough to beat today."
Scheffler won $3.6 million from the prize fund, and he clinched an additional $23 million in bonus money for being No. 1 in the FedEx Cup through next week's BMW Championship. No one can catch him. No one is particularly close in the game at the moment, even when he's not piling up trophies.
Scheffler now has two victories, five runner-up finishes and five other top 4s in another stellar year that until Sunday was marked by his lack of winning compared with previous years. The TPC Southwind was the course he had played the most times without winning, and the FedEx Cup playoffs opener had been the only postseason tournament he had yet to win. All that changed.
Scheffler's most recent start was another runner-up finish at the 3M Open in Minnesota, another rally that came up short. But it was those two weeks at home that made the difference.
"I felt like I found something just getting my hands on the club," he said. "I had a really good kind of prep week coming in, probably the best I played at home."
Winther triumphs
KERTEMINDE, Denmark -- Jeff Winther captured his national tournament in thrilling style by shooting 5-under 67 to win the Danish Golf Championship by three shots on Sunday, outlasting a bunch of rivals that included compatriot Rasmus Hojgaard.
The two Danes delivered an amazing few minutes for the home fans late in the final round at Great Northern, with Hojgaard chipping in for eagle at No. 17 to briefly join Winther in a share of the lead -- only for Winther to respond by draining an eagle putt on the par-4 16th, where he'd driven the green, to go two shots clear again.
Cink takes playoff
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. -- Stewart Cink continued his dominance of the PGA Tour Champions on Sunday when he closed with a 7-under 65 and defeated Miguel Angel Jimenez with a birdie on the first playoff hole to win the Boeing Classic.
Thitikul rallies
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Jeeno Thitikul ran off five straight birdies early and closed with an 8-under 64 for a one-shot victory Sunday in The Standard Portland Classic, her third LPGA Tour title of the season.
Arpichaya Yubol and Chanettee Wannasaen tied for second.
Whaley tops Leng
ARDMORE -- Jack Whaley blinked back tears as he clutched the U.S. Amateur championship trophy and could only think of the countless times his father kept encouraging him, kept playing golf with him, all to urge a promising teenager on the cusp of quitting the game to stick with it for better days ahead.
With his dad on the bag, Whaley fulfilled Andy Whaley's unwavering belief and capped the tournament victory of his life at Merion with a father-son embrace that put an exclamation point on a career that at one point seemed destined to dry up on English soil.
"He can actually see me happy, and I can see him happy coming off the golf course," Whaley said.
Whaley played with double gloves, needed an umbrella, was stung by a wasp at rainy Merion Golf Club and still pushed through the inconveniences to cap a tremendous tournament and hold off Jay Leng Jr. to win the U.S. Amateur on Sunday.