Victory at The Masters, an Olympic gold medal, a first-time father, and his first time being arrested.
Scottie Scheffler ended a year he won’t forget in the best way possible with victory at the season-ending Tour Championship on Monday morning (AEST).
The victory also saw him secure the year-long FedEx Cup to cap off golf’s best season in nearly two decades.
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“If you can describe it in words, more power to you,” Scheffler said after his four-shot victory, his eighth win of the year.
“Because I don’t think I can.”
Scottie Scheffler and his caddie Ted Scott after winning the TOUR Championship. PGA Tour via Getty Images
As always, his clubs spoke volumes.
“All I’m trying to do is hit a good shot,” he said. “This year, I’ve been able to do that a lot.”
The victory pushed his season earnings, including bonuses, to about $92 million.
Scheffler’s isn’t the only wallet significantly fatter after such an astonishing year. On his bags for each of these tournaments was caddie Ted Scott.
Assuming Scheffler follows an industry-standard 10-7-5 structure – where he pays Scott 10 per cent of the prize money for a victory, seven per cent for a top-10 and five per cent of everything else – Scott earned $7.73m.
If he’d have been a player, such a sum would’ve left him 20th on the PGA Tour’s money-earner list this season.
Scheffler and Scott have been working together since the end of 2021 after the latter split with Bubba Watson, ending a 15 year partnership. Both devout Christians, they met in a bible study group.
Scheffler and Scott earlier in the final round of the TOUR Championship. Getty
Scheffler’s 2024 was the greatest year since Tiger Woods’ 2006, when he won eight times, including six in a row and two majors, all while dealing with the death of his father.
Scheffler’s eight wins included the Masters, The Players Championship, an Olympic gold medal and the Tour Championship that enabled him to finally claim the FedEx Cup.
His seven PGA Tour titles are the most since Woods in 2007.
Scheffler took the drama out of the final hour — four of his wins this year were by three shots or more — and finally let out a “WOOO!!” as he stepped inside to sign his card. He hoisted two big trophies, the silver FedEx Cup and his 4-month-old son, Bennett.
But it was hard work.
This was the third straight year Scheffler came to East Lake as the top seed, meaning he started the tournament at 10-under par with a two-shot lead. Two years ago, he lost a six-shot lead in the final round to McIlroy.
He has been PGA Tour player of the year the last two seasons, but had left without the FedEx Cup trophy.
“It definitely leaves a bad taste in your mouth at the end of the year,” he said.
Scheffler was determined for that not to be the case again, though it got dicey as storm clouds began to threaten.
Most harrowing was the two-shot swing on No.8, when Morikawa pumped his fist with a birdie as Scheffler’s shank led to a bogey.
And then it was over.
After his birdie on the ninth, Scheffler hit wedge to 3 feet on No.10 for birdie, and then swirled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 11th.
Sheffler’s season earnings of $43.2 million represented about 9.2 per cent of the total purse from tournaments he played.
Woods won about 9.7 per cent of the total pool in 2007.
In 2000, still regarded as one of the best individual seasons ever, Woods won about 11.6 per cent.
The $37 million FedEx Cup prize is unofficial, as is the $11.8 million Scheffler received from the “Comcast Business Top 10” for leading the regular season.
The FedEx Cup trophy felt valuable in its own right, a perfect end to an astonishing season.
“It’s been a very eventful year,” Scheffler said, “but it’s been really fun.”