Scottie Scheffler has handed the PGA Tour a big boost ahead of the opening event of the playoffs with the world number one in the field for the FedEx St. Jude Championship this week.
Scottie Scheffler is most definitely one of the players who does not need to tee it up at TPC Southwind or next week’s BMW Championship. The 29-year-old has opened up a huge lead in the FedEx Cup after winning four times in 2025, including both the PGA Championship and The Open Championship.
He certainly has reason to put his feet up until the Tour Championship. But, unlike Rory McIlroy, Scheffler will be involved at the FedEx St. Jude Championship this week.
And it will be very interesting to see how he performs given that he has been so dominant. Scheffler has won on four of his last eight starts, while you would have to go back to The Players Championship for the last time he finished outside the top 10.
What Scottie Scheffler said about TPC Southwind after a practice round ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship
Scheffler has not yet won at TPC Southwind in his career. He ended up finishing fourth at the event 12 months ago having not played since winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games.
Similarly, he goes into this week off the back of a victory in his previous appearance. But it seems that Scheffler was a little taken aback by the course during a practice round ahead of Thursday’s opening round.
Speaking on Golf Channel, Todd Lewis explained what Scheffler said about the venue.
“From what I saw of Scottie Scheffler today, I did not see much stress surrounding the world’s top player. He was out here very loose, playing a nine hole practice round and getting used to these new greens here at TPC Southwind, thinking they may be a little firm and fast, but he said that they are actually a little more receptive than he anticipated,” he said.
“Scottie we last saw competitively playing at Royal Portrush, where he won The Open.
“As soon as that championship was over he flew home to Dallas, then immediately went to New York to go to the premiere of Happy Gilmore 2. Then he went to LA for some business after that.
“Then he did decompress a bit at his home in Dallas. Last week he started practicing and getting ready for the FedEx Cup playoffs and then started playing some golf Friday, Saturday and then he came here to get ready for this championship.
“He is in a very positive state of mind. He probably right now, because it’s a vote among the players, has the Player of the Year locked up once again on the PGA Tour, especially with Rory not in the field and missing an opportunity to possibly win again and decrease that gap between he and Scottie Scheffler.”
Why Scottie Scheffler feels a connection to the FedEx St. Jude Championship
McIlroy has been praised for skipping this week, with Rich Beem suggesting that the Northern Irishman’s chances of winning the Tour Championship will be boosted by him not playing in Memphis.
But Scheffler seems to have much more of a connection with the tournament. Ahead of last year’s event, he explained what it means to him.
“I think it’s a golf course that should suit me pretty well. I haven’t really played my best here the last few years. I have good memories around this place. It was one of the first tour events I ever played in in 2014 and it was my first tour event as a professional in 2018, so the tournament has always supported me from the beginning, so that’s why it’s great to be back here. It’s great that this tournament is in the Playoffs. It has a lot of significance to us,” he said.
“My relationship with the golf course, hopefully it’ll improve this year.”
With his fourth place finish a few days later, it seems fair to say that Scheffler’s relationship with the golf course did indeed improve.
That will be a concern for those hoping to secure the win this week.
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