Scottie

Scheffler’s 21st career PGA Tour title earns the American $3.6m for his resounding victory at TPC Southwind.

Scottie Scheffler has had a fair share of close calls this year ‌but not in the St Jude Championship.

He shot a final-round 4-under-par 66 on Sunday in Memphis, Tennessee, and pulled away to win the tournament by eight strokes ⁠and extend his lead in ⁠the FedEx Cup playoffs.

“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.”

Scheffler is the world number one, but this marked his first victory since January.

“I have had some close calls this year,” Scheffler said. “I feel like I kept saying at the end of each tournament that I feel like I am playing pretty good – it’s just little things ⁠that aren’t going my way.”

He finished at a 17-under 263 for an eight-stroke advantage on runner-up Si Woo Kim of South Korea at TPC Southwind, where the opening event of three tournaments in the FedEx Cup playoffs took place. Kim shot 68 on Sunday.

It was the tournament’s second-largest margin of victory in the past 30 years and the largest winning gap at TPC Southwind.

“I felt like I’ve been in a good rhythm,” Scheffler said. “I didn’t hit maybe as many fairways this week, but I was ‌really sharp with the irons, and I rolled it really good on the greens. That’s a good compensation if you’re going to try to have success out here.”

None of the other contenders made much of a push on Sunday as Scheffler’s lead expanded from two strokes to five by midway through the round.

Scheffler, who secured his 21st all-time victory on the tour, poured it on with birdies on the 11th, 13th and 16th holes.

“I played solid golf all day, really all week,” Scheffler said.

The next stop in the playoffs is in St Louis, Missouri, for this coming week’s BMW Championship, which Scheffler won last year.

St Jude Championship – round four leaderboard

-17 S Scheffler (US); -9 Kim (Kor); -8 A Noren (Swe), S Burns (US); -7 W Clark (US), Im (Kor)

Selected others: -6 L Aberg (Swe), T Fleetwood (Eng); -5 M Fitzpatrick (Eng); -4 V Hovland (Nor), J Spieth (US); -3 H Hall (Eng); E J Rose; +3 S Lowry; +8 R McIlroy (NI)

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Rory McIlroy says “he felt lost” as he toiled to a 66th-place finish – 25 strokes behind champion Scottie Scheffler – at the St Jude Championship.

While world number one Scheffler was a cut above the rest at 17 under overall as he claimed his first victory since January, more concerning for McIlory was that his eight-over total left him ahead of just two players in the first of the three FedEx Cup play-off events.

The Northern Irishman, who won his second Masters title earlier this season had not played competitively since the Open Championship in July.

And it told at TPC Southwind, where he failed to record a single round under par across the four days and struggled to find the sort of rhythm that will be needed if he is to claim an unprecedented fourth FedEx Cup later this month.

“I’m so far away from where I need to be to even feel like I have a chance. I’ve just got to keep working and hope it turns around a little bit,” said McIlroy, who is 13th in the season-long standings.

“Obviously didn’t come in here with a ton of reps, (it) almost felt like the more the week went on the more I felt lost with my golf swing a little bit.

“I guess [it was] nice to shake the rust off a little bit but I’m going to have to work pretty hard between now and next Thursday to feel like I have any sort of golf game to compete next week.

“To me it’s more about the execution of what I’m doing right now, and the execution wasn’t there this week.”

McIlroy’s struggles were obvious particularly in from tee to green where he ranked 62nd out of 68 players for strokes gained.

However, he would at least have been able to take some comfort from a seven-hole stretch on the back nine where he knocked in four birdies, albeit he finished with successive bogeys to bookend a round which began with a six on the par-four opening hole.

St Jude Championship – round three leaderboard

-13 S Scheffler (US); -11 S Burns (US), Im (Kor); -8 J Knapp (US), T Fleetwood (Eng)

Selected others: -7 B Harman (US); -6 V Hovland (Nor); -5 W Clark (US); -4 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), J Spieth (US); -3 L Aberg (Swe); -2 H Hall (Eng); -1 A Rai (Eng); +6 J Rose (Eng), R McIlroy (NI)

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World number one Scottie Scheffler will take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the St Jude Championship as he chases his first victory since January.

Scheffler, 30, carded a two-under 68 on Saturday to sit at 13 under overall, with his American compatriot Sam Burns at 11 under alongside South Korea’s Im Sung-jae.

Burns produced a superb bogey-free 62 to move into contention in the FedEx Cup play-off opener at TPC Southwind in Memphis.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood, who is the defending FedEx Cup champion, is a further three strokes adrift at eight under with Jake Knapp.

And it ensures an intriguing fourth round, with close friends Scheffler and Burns in the final pairing.

“Strategy is still the same, just go out there and execute,” said Scheffler, who last led an event after 54 holes at the 2025 Open Championship.

“This is a golf course where that’s really all it comes down to. It’s always a little weird just because I want him to have success so much and I think he wants the same for me.

“It will be a competition like normal. It will be fun being out there with your friend but it’s also a bit weird.”

Sweden’s Alex Noren and Norway’s Viktor Hovland are well placed for strong finishes at seven and six under respectively.

However, six-time major winner Rory McIlroy and 2013 US Open champion Justin Rose both faltered badly on the 18th hole to sit well off the pace at six over.

Northern Ireland’s McIlroy carded a double-bogey six after driving into the water off the tee, while Rose fared even worse finding the same hazard twice on his way to a triple-bogey seven.

The top 50 players in the FedEx standings at the end of the weekend will advance into next week’s BMW Championship, with the top 30 after that advancing to the Tour Championship.

St Jude Championship – round two leaderboard

-11 S Scheffler (US); -8 Im (Kor), V Hovland (Nor); -7 L Aberg (Swe); -6 Nico Echavarria (Col), T Fleetwood (Eng), J Spieth (US), B Harman (US)

Selected others: -3 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), J Thomas (US); -2 A Rai (Eng); E H Hall (Eng); +1 S Lowry (Ire); +3 J Rose (Eng); +4 R McIlroy (NI), J Smith (Eng); +5 A Fitzpatrick (Eng)

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Scottie Scheffler equalled the course record with a nine-under-par 61 as he opened up a three-stroke lead at the end of the second round of the St Jude Championship in Memphis.

The world number one, who already led the FedEx Cup standings heading into the first of three play-off events, birdied the first five holes at TPC Southwind.

The American proceeded to knock in a further six birdies, with bogeys on the eighth and 12th holes the only blemishes on his scorecard as he recorded his fourth career round of 61 or better on the PGA Tour.

“Really just a dream start. Probably one of the best starts I’ve had on tour, to be honest with you. I couldn’t tell you a time where I’ve been lower early in the round,” said Scheffler.

“My swing has felt really good in the past couple weeks, especially playing at home. It was nice to get out there and get things rolling early in the round and was able to keep the momentum going and shoot myself a nice round.”

South Korea’s Im Sung-jae is tied for second with Norway’s Viktor Hovland at eight under overall, with Ludvig Aberg a shot further back.

Reigning FedEx Cup champion Tommy Fleetwood is the highest placed British player and in a quartet that also includes Jordan Spieth at six under.

Matt Fitzpatrick and fellow Englishman Aaron Rai, who collected his first major at the US PGA Championship in May, are at three under and two under respectively, with Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy at four over.

With there being no 36-hole cut at any FedEx play-off event, six-time major winner McIlroy will hope to fare better over the weekend.

One player who will be absent though is Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, who withdrew prior to the start of play on Friday with a knee injury.

MacIntyre, who had limped to a 12-over 82 during the first round on Thursday, currently sits at 31st on the FedEx Cup points list.

The top 50 will head into next week’s BMW Championship.

3M Open final leaderboard

-25 J Koivun (US); -22 S Scheffler (US); -20 D McCarthy (US), B Harman (US), C Phillips (US), H Matsuyama (Jpn)

Selected others: -17 S Power (Ire), G Woodland (US) M Kim (US); -16 Knapp (US); -13 J Parry (Eng)

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American rookie Jackson Koivun held his nerve to beat Scottie Scheffler by three strokes and claim his first PGA Tour win at the 3M Open on Sunday.

Playing in just his third tournament since turning professional, Koivun surged into a three-shot lead on Saturday during a round of 10-under 61.

The 21-year-old then stretched his lead to five in the final round at TPC Twin Cities in Minnesota, before world number one Scheffler applied pressure.

The four-time major winner began the back nine with three straight birdies, then claimed two more in the final three holes to finish with an eight-under 63 and trail compatriot Koivun by two strokes.

Former world amateur number one Koivun could have wobbled at that point, with holes left to play, but instead he made his fifth birdie of the day at 16 before wrapping up a five-under 66 to finish on 25 under par overall.

“I had some nerves coming down 18,” said Koivun. “All throughout the crowd I kept hearing ‘Scottie’s coming, Scottie’s coming’.

“I just tried to tune that out and keep playing the golf I knew I could and was able to find some good putts coming down the stretch.”

American trio Denny McCarthy, Brian Harman and Chandler Phillips finished five strokes behind Koivun, in a tie for third with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama.

Michael Kim fired a 12-under 59 on Friday, but the American finished in a tie for 10th after closing with rounds of 70 and 69.

Travelers Championship second round

-16 S Scheffler (US); -14 V Hovland (Nor); -12 E Cole (US), A Bhatia (US); -10 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), B Griffin (US), B Cauley (US)

Selected others: -9 J Rose (Eng), T Fleetwood (Eng); -8 R MacIntyre (Sco), W Clark (US); -7 A Rai (Eng), S Lowry (Ire)

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Scottie Scheffler fired a 10-under-par 60 to hold the lead after the second round of the PGA Tour Travelers Championship.

The world number one made 11 birdies and a lone bogey on Friday to move to 16 under at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.

That put him two shots clear of Norway’s Viktor Hovland, who also threatened a rare round of 59 as he fired a bogey-free 61 which included seven birdies and an eagle.

Jim Furyk holds the tour-record lowest round at 58, but Scheffler is one of 14 players to have made a 59, which for him came during the 2020 Northern Trust at TPC Boston.

The 30-year-old American had the chance to repeat the feat with a birdie at the 18th hole but missed from just outside 26 feet.

“It was a little tricky,” Scheffler said. “It actually went right to start, and there was a tonne of break right to left at the end.

“It was a tough read, but overall it was a really solid day. I was pretty happy with my execution.”

On his plans for the weekend, the four-time major winner added: “Hard to keep up that pace, but continue to execute, continue to give myself looks.”

Compatriot Akshay Bhatia sat four shots off the lead in a share of third place having matched his career-low round with a bogey-free 62, with fellow American Eric Cole alongside him after a 65.

England’s Matt Fitzpatrick lurked two strokes back on 10 under, having had to settle for a four-under 66 after two bogeys on his final three holes, with Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood a single shot further behind and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre at eight under.

Scheffler’s score was deceptively good on a day when gusting winds reached 40mph and ensured that the greens became firmer and even more perilous.

Only one other player, Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo – who moved to level par for the championship after signing for a three-under 67 – broke the par score of 70.

It was attritional. As US Opens often are. Ten players began the day under par. By the end, there were only five.

The third-round scoring average was 73.61, the highest of the championship.

It took one hour and 50 minutes for the first birdie to be registered, one of only two in 70 combined holes played by the field over the opening two hours.

Scheffler’s performance was all the more impressive given he bogeyed the first two holes and his resurgence arrived entirely on the harder back nine.

A birdie on the 10th provided some impetus but his chip-in on the 14th followed by an outpouring of emotion signalled a shift in momentum.

Further birdies at the 15th and 16th helped him play the final nine holes in 32 shots, matching the lowest score of the week.

But Clark’s lead was barely threatened.

Unheralded American Stevens briefly got within two shots at four under par but he was one of several players whose challenge faded on the back nine.

Rory McIlroy was another. The Northern Irishman had a hat-trick of birdies from the fifth, one of which was a sensational 66-foot putt, to get to two under but five bogeys in his closing nine holes derailed his title hopes.

And Fitzpatrick’s hopes of adding to his 2022 US Open triumph were all but sunk by a ruinous run of three successive bogeys to start his round.

The normally unflappable Yorkshireman, playing in the final group with Clark, had started four back at three under but by the final hole his frustration was evident after he hacked out of deep rough and then overhit a chip. It led to a fifth bogey of the round as he finished eight off the pace.

Those at one under know they need to shoot low on Sunday and hope Clark makes mistakes.

Perhaps they will follow Fleetwood in taking inspiration from the last US Open held at this Long Island layout when the Englishman shot a 63 in 2018’s final round as he came from six back to finish one behind champion Brooks Koepka.

Fleetwood, who will start eight adrift said: “We’ll see what conditions bring. It’s nice when you have good memories of a place, isn’t it? I have great shots to go off and good feelings, so you know, I can draw on that.”

But equally Clark knows that if he can emulate the only three players to have finished under par at a Shinnecock Hills US Open – Ray Floyd in winning in 1986, and champion Retief Goosen and runner-up Phil Mickelson in 2004 – then the title is likely his.