Scottie Scheffler back to his dominant self and opens PGA Tour postseason with 8-shot win

Scottie Scheffler back to his dominant self and opens PGA Tour postseason with 8-shot win 1 of 5 | Scottie Scheffler celebrates winning on the 18th green the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) 2 of 5 | Scottie Scheffler hits from a bunker to the eighth green during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) 3 of 5 | Scottie Scheffler tosses his ball to his cadie on the 11th green during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) 4 of 5 | Si Woo Kim, of South Korea, reacts on the 18thgreen during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) 5 of 5 | Sam Burns hits from a bunker on the 13th hole during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) 1 of 5 | Scottie Scheffler celebrates winning on the 18th green the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) 1 of 5 Scottie Scheffler celebrates winning on the 18th green the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 5 | Scottie Scheffler hits from a bunker to the eighth green during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) 2 of 5 Scottie Scheffler hits from a bunker to the eighth green during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 5 | Scottie Scheffler tosses his ball to his cadie on the 11th green during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) 3 of 5 Scottie Scheffler tosses his ball to his cadie on the 11th green during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 4 of 5 | Si Woo Kim, of South Korea, reacts on the 18thgreen during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) 4 of 5 Si Woo Kim, of South Korea, reacts on the 18thgreen during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 5 of 5 | Sam Burns hits from a bunker on the 13th hole during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) 5 of 5 Sam Burns hits from a bunker on the 13th hole during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] Memphis, Tenn. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler was back to his dominant form Sunday, turning a two-shot lead into a runaway in the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He closed with a 4-under 66 for an eight-shot victory, the largest in the 68-year history at the TPC Southwind.Scheffler ended nearly seven months without winning, 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.This was only close for a fleeting moment. After months of little things getting in the way, Scheffler hit a bunker shot on the par-5 third that would have settled a few feet away for a tap-in birdie. But it landed on a sprinkler head, took a hard hop and rolled through the green into the water for bogey.“I was like, ‘Man, when is this going to stop happening?’” Scheffler said. That shrunk his lead to one shot over Sungjae Im. Then Scheffler made consecutive birdie putts on the fifth and sixth holes and was on his way. 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 now has 21 career victories on the PGA Tour, 10 of them by four shots or more. 3 MIN READ 1 MIN READ 1 MIN READ 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. Im wound up with a 75 to tie for fifth, but it was enough for the South Korean to move from No. 53 into the top 50 who advance to the BMW Championship next week in St. Louis. Im kept alive his chances of reaching the Tour Championship every year since he was a rookie in 2019.Im bumped out Keith Mitchell, who stood in the water left of the 18th fairway to play a shot from the bank as he tried to give himself his best chance. That shot tumbled into the water, he made bogey and narrowly missed out.So did Jordan Spieth, who needed to close with four pars to reach the BMW Championship for the first time since 2023, and finished with a bogey from the water on No. 15 and three pars for a 70.The top 50 who advance also are assured of playing all the $20 million signature events next year.Scheffler put himself squarely in the mix for a fifth straight PGA Tour player of the year during a season in which no one has stood out based on titles alone. The body of work has been impressive, and Scheffler still has two tournaments remaining. Ferguson has been The AP’s golf writer since 1998. He is a recipient of the PGA Lifetime Achievement in Journalism award.