Scottie Scheffler had finished second five times this season and won once, in January. On Sunday in Memphis he won the first FedEx Cup playoff event by eight shots.
How it went
A 61 on Friday put him in front. On Saturday his friend Sam Burns shot 62 to get within two, and on Sunday Scheffler got a terrible break at the par-5 third, where his bunker shot hit a sprinkler head and ran into the water on the other side.
He was one over for the day after four holes and still in the lead. Back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth made it five, and birdies at 11, 13 and 16 finished it. He closed with a 66 for 17 under, 263.
- Rounds 68, 61, 68, 66
- Runner-up Si Woo Kim, 9 under
- Tied third Alex Noren and Sam Burns, 8 under
- Prize $3.6 million from a $20 million purse, and 750 FedEx Cup points
Scheffler said afterwards that he'd felt a week like this was coming, and that he'd spent all year telling people he was close. His putting was the difference. By the numbers it was the best putting week of his career.
Rory McIlroy finished even par, tied 39th. Sungjae Im was the only player to jump into the top 50 and on to next week's BMW Championship at Bellerive.
Sources: Golf Monthly (16 August); AFP via Al Jazeera (17 August); The Golf News Net (18 August); Plugged In Golf (August).