By Scottie Scheffler’s standards in 2024, a fourth place finish at the St Jude Championship in the opening event of the FedEx Cup play-offs would have probably been fairly underwhelming.
Scottie Scheffler is likely to be the man to beat at The Tour Championship at East Lake, with the world number one almost certainly set to start in Atlanta with a two-shot lead after a stunning season in which he has won seven times.
To put into context how ruthless the 28-year-old has been, Scheffler’s tied fourth finish at the St Jude Championship last week marked only his fifth top five where he has not won in 2024. Ultimately, he finished three shots back of Hideki Matsuyama in Memphis.
Interestingly, some have tipped Xander Schauffele to beat Scheffler to The Tour Championship – largely due to Schauffele’s superb record at East Lake. But perhaps there were signs of The Masters champion not being at his very best last time out.
What was so impressive about Scottie Scheffler at the St Jude Championship
Speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman noted that what Scheffler did at the St Jude Championship was all the more remarkable due to the fact that he was not at the top of his game.
“The one thing with Scottie that I want to keep an eye on is that his ball striking wasn’t up to his, I would say, normal standard which is crazy to think about, right, he arguably, if you go back and look at his last 36 holes, he had so many opportunities to have won that golf tournament, that just speaks to how good he is at golf,” he said.
“On a week where it feels like maybe he didn’t have his normal best stuff, maybe in his words, the ball striking with the irons was a B- or a C+, it just goes to show you how good he is at golf, so let’s see the type of adjustments that he makes with the ball striking this week. And we’re talking about a guy that’s, with his ball striking as it is right now, an eight out of 10, let’s see if he can get it up to his standard nine, 10 out of 10.”
A fighter
There have been a few occasions where Scheffler has somehow been able to find a way to put himself in contention without producing his best form. Of course, one of the most infamous moments of the year came when he was arrested at Valhalla and went on to produce a superb round at the PGA Championship.
Meanwhile, it never felt as though he got to complete grips with Royal Troon, and yet, he still finished in a tie for seventh at The Open Championship, with Scheffler in contention until he essentially four-putted the ninth.
As Kaufman suggests, it highlights just how good Scheffler truly is. And it is ominous for all his rivals just what he is capable of when he has his B or C game.
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