This Thursday, at the TPC Southwind in Memphis, a new edition of the Playoffs for the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour kicks off with the FedEx St. Jude Championship. A tournament that the top 70 ranked players on the circuit during the regular season have access to and where, in addition to the points to continue advancing on the road to Atlanta, a hefty check of 3.6 million dollars is at stake for the winner of the 20 that the event distributes. However, beyond points and money, all eyes, once again, will be directed towards the world’s Number One…
Scottie Scheffler, after his brilliant and emotional victory at the Paris Olympics just 10 days ago, presents himself again as the big favourite to win. But he does so with a curious condition: to date, he has not only never won the FedEx Cup but he has also not been able to win any of the events that make up the Playoffs. Perhaps it is the only thing missing in this unforgettable 2024 in which he has managed to conquer the Arnold Palmer, the THE PLAYERS, the Masters, the RBC Heritage, the Memorial, the Travelers… and the Olympic gold at Le Golf National.
With 5,993 points, the American starts with an abysmal advantage in the FedEx classification over Xander Schauffele, to whom he takes almost 2,000 points (just the ones the winner of each of the first two final series tournaments will receive); and practically doubles Rory McIlroy, third in the ranking. But he will try to crown his great year with some more victories in this exciting second half of August and succeeding Viktor Hovland in the circuit winners’ list… if his game allows him at East Lake where, despite the format not convincing him, he will play the work of the year.
Scheffler, excited after the Olympic gold
“I was surprised by the number of people who want to see the medal. I think there are many things in golf for which you are congratulated, but I think a lot of people are very excited to see the medal, and the truth is that it is quite cool, so that part has been fun. I will have it with me for the next two weeks because I am not going back home, so it will stay with me”, Scheffler acknowledged this Wednesday in Memphis during his official press conference.
The Number One also talked about what surprised him the most about himself at the Paris Games: “I suppose my own reaction. I really didn’t know what it would be like to get on the podium, and I felt that the week had been a challenge because I felt I was playing very well, but I wasn’t getting anything, and I was falling further and further behind. I kept telling myself to wait to get ‘hot’ because I knew that once I started making birdies, I would get the feeling that they would come one after the other because of the way I was playing. Teddy did a good job keeping me patient. I felt as if at one point on Sunday, we ran out of time, and I wasn’t going to make it. Especially when Rahm was at 20 under par and I was six or seven strokes behind, which seems insurmountable. But I had to trust that he would make a mistake and keep playing great golf. Getting on the podium I think has been one of the most beautiful things I have experienced in golf. It was a lot of fun”.
Scottie is not convinced by the FedEx format
Although his appearance, of course, has focused on the Playoffs, in this tournament in Memphis… and in his challenge to win the FedEx Cup: “I really don’t think it’s an asterisk for me or anything like that, but I definitely want to win the FedExCup. It is said to be the race of the whole season, but in the end it all comes down to East Lake. I have not offered my best game at East Lake the last two years. I played well there my rookie year, but afterwards, in the last years I have not had my best level. I am glad they have changed the course a bit. It might give me new vibes”.
What Scheffler has made clear is that the format in which the circuit champion is decided still does not convince him: “I have talked about it in the last few years. I think it’s nonsense. You can’t call it a race of the whole season and then it comes down to one tournament. Hypothetically, do we get to East Lake and my neck swells up and doesn’t heal like it did at THE PLAYERS and I end up 30th in the FedExCup because I had to withdraw from the last tournament? Is that really the race of the whole season? No. It is what it is”.
“It’s a fun tournament. I really don’t consider it the race of the whole season as I think it’s called. But you have to find a way to achieve a balance between it being a good television product and still being a season competition. Right now, I don’t exactly know what the ratings are or anything like that, but I know for sure that it can’t be considered a season race when it comes down to a stroke play tournament on the same golf course every year”, Scottie delved into his press conference.
In any case, he hopes to have the opportunity to win and prefers not to compare his victories with each other: “Sometimes I find it hard to judge these kinds of questions. After the Olympics I was asked many times where my victories ranked, and I said: ‘I’m not going to compare my victories with each other. Each one is special in its own way’. I feel it’s the same with the TOUR Championship. Is it a tournament I would love to win? Yes, I would love to win the TOUR Championship. It would be fantastic. I would also love to win this tournament. I would love to win next week”.
“Every time you are able to win a tournament, it’s a lot of fun. I appreciate those experiences and I hope to be able to do it more times in the future. Looking forward to these last three events of the season, I come to play all three and I want to give myself the best chance to win each one of them. In these next two tournaments, I will be ready to play and defend my lead in the points list with the challenge of going to East Lake and starting with an advantage”, he concluded.
Without a break, after this FedEx St. Jude Championship, the BMW Championship will be held next week, the second event of the Playoffs. Only the top 50 in the overall circuit ranking after this week’s tournament will have access. Four days in which several important names will try to make a comeback so as not to be left out. For example, Justin Rose needs at least a 31st place this week to get into that top 50, Viktor Hovland a 27th, Min Woo Lee a 17th and Jordan Spieth also a 17th. A lot of ground to cover in Memphis…
