Scottie Scheffler will be looking to hammer home his domination on the PGA Tour with a win at the Tour Championship this week at East Lake.
Scheffler has won five times on the PGA Tour this season already, including two major championships, and a victory at the Tour Championship would be a fitting end to what has been a fabulous 2025 season for the world number one.
In the build up to the PGA Tour’s season finale, Scheffler spoke at length about his opinion on the new Tour Championship format.
The 29-year-old won the event last year, after beginning the week with a two-stroke head start over second place Xander Schauffele.
However, that won’t be the case this year, with all 30 players starting on the same score, and Scheffler actually prefers it that way. That’s just a sign of how much of a competitor he is, isn’t it?
Scheffler has already been handsomely rewarded for his FedEx Cup domination this season, after receiving three separate bonuses amounting to $23 million over the past three weeks.
However, money is a secondary concern for the man from Dallas, Texas. He will have only one thing in mind this week and that is winning the golf tournament at East Lake.
Scottie Scheffler’s back nine score at East Lake before the Tour Championship
Scheffler played a nine-hole practice round at East Lake on Wednesday morning ahead of the Tour Championship.
The world number one looked completely locked in with his driver, hitting every single fairway on the back nine.
He perhaps wasn’t quite at his brilliant best with his iron play but nonetheless, he still didn’t miss a green in regulation.
There was one slight concern for Scheffler, though. He missed a fair few very makeable putts, although he was hardly giving them his full attention, as you can see in the video below.
Scheffler shot a one-under par 34 on East Lake’s back nine on Wednesday and in general, his game seems to be in great shape as per usual.
It’s also worth remembering with Scheffler that he turns into a completely different animal when a tournament begins and he switches into supreme competitive mode.
In addition to that, the Texan has his trusty caddie Ted Scott back on the bag in Atlanta this week.
Todd Lewis shared what he noticed about the duo during a practice round on Wednesday, when speaking to the golf Channel.
Lewis said: “One other thing that should be pointed out this week. His friend and caddie Ted Scott missed the BMW Championship last week to be home with his family in Louisiana, he is back this week.
“Ted is back here this week, I have walked the fairways with Scottie and Ted and there is some normalcy back for Scottie and for Ted Scott. They are laughing and enjoying their time together. Ted will be a tremendous asset for Scottie Scheffler as he tries to win the FedEx Cup once again.“
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy disagree over Tour Championship format
Scheffler has openly supported the changes made by the PGA Tour to the season-ending Tour Championship.
However, McIlroy has a completely different take on the format.
The Northern Irishman admitted that he is in the minority with his take on the Tour Championship format, though.
He addressed the media at East Lake on Tuesday and insisted that he actually didn’t hate the starting strokes system.
McIlroy said: “I’m maybe part of the minority. I didn’t hate the starting strokes. I thought that the player that played the best during the course of the season should have had an advantage coming in here. But the majority of people just didn’t like the starting strokes. Whether it were players or fans – I was on the PAC when we were trying to go through that, and really it was just a way to try to simplify the advantage that the top players were going to get over the course of the week instead of Steve Sands doing calculations on a white board.”
McIlroy’s take there was completely different to Scheffler’s and that is why it’s so hard for the PGA Tour to get the Tour Championship format right; they simply can’t please everybody.
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