It should be a wierd expertise to win almost $6 million after enjoying 4 days of golf and stroll away feeling nothing however disappointment. That was the place Scottie Scheffler discovered himself Sunday after he shot a 73 to kick away a six-shot lead within the closing spherical of the PGA Tour season, opening a door Rory McIlroy waltzed via and win each the 2022 Tour Championship and $18 million FedEx Cup grand prize.
Scheffler was unhealthy on the ultimate day; there is not any different method to say it. He completed twenty eighth out of 29 in strokes gained from tee to inexperienced. Only one golfer hit fewer greens in regulation than Scheffler’s 9. Nobody within the subject shot worse than his 3-over end at East Lake Golf Club. In 10 rounds of scores throughout this year’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, the 73 was Scheffler’s worst — by two strokes.
“For whatever reason, my swing wasn’t where it had been the first few days this week,” mentioned Scheffler. “… I put myself in position to win this tournament when I wasn’t playing my best today, and so I’m proud of how I fought.”
While the No. 1 participant on this planet did not cap his four-win season with a FedEx Cup title — as Jordan Spieth did in 2015 or Justin Thomas did in 2017 — it doesn’t erase and even diminish his accomplishments during the last 12 months. Here is a short abstract of Scheffler’s play. It’s essential to recollect it is a golfer who, this time final year, had neither cracked the highest 10 on this planet nor gained a PGA Tour match.
- Ryder Cup: Beat Jon Rahm in singles
- Phoenix Open: Defeated Patrick Cantlay (Win 1)
- Arnold Palmer Invitational: Defeated Viktor Hovalnd, others (Win 2)
- WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play: Third victory in seven weeks (Win 3)
- OWGR: Became No. 1 after WGC win, reigning for 23 weeks (and counting)
- Masters: First main championship, fourth victory in 9 weeks (Win 4)
- U.S. Open: Finished one shot out of a playoff
- Winnings: $20 million in mixed on-course earnings
- Close calls: Notched 10 top-four finishes in 24 particular person occasions
- Strokes gained: Second within the class since Jan. 1
The sting of enjoying as poorly as he did Sunday to lose that fifth trophy on the year will linger, however Scheffler was not unmoored by the money on the desk at East Lake. As such, I’m doubtful that he can be undone by a single spherical in a single match given there was a lot good that got here earlier than it.
“The money is great, obviously,” mentioned Scheffler. “Playing professional golf for a living is such a gift. For me, I don’t play golf for money. I play to win tournaments, and I play to have fun and do my best and see where the game can take me. Today, the money definitely didn’t creep into my mind. I wanted to win the season-long title. I’ve had a really great year and I wanted to finish it off with a win here, and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that. But at the end of the day, it’s such a gift to be out here playing golf for money, and I’m just so thankful to be out here.”
Scheffler’s loss really dropped at thoughts the 2018 Tour Championship when McIlroy (coincidentally) was paired with eventual winner Tiger Woods within the closing group. McIlroy shot 74, utterly ejecting from rivalry. Despite Tiger’s landmark win and Europe’s rout within the Ryder Cup every week later, it undoubtedly left a bitter style in Rory’s mouth. The following year, although, he performed among the finest golf of his complete life.
After ending within the high 5 within the first 5 PGA Tour occasions of 2019 following his poor closing kick at East Lake at the top of 2018, McIlroy went on to win The Players Championship in March and the Canadian Open that summer time. It was the second-best statistical season of his profession, in response to Data Golf.
Could Scheffler discover the identical motivation and trajectory after a loss like this one?Â
“Scottie Scheffler is going to win the Player of the Year,” mentioned McIlroy. “There’s no doubt about that. You know, it might have been becoming for him to finish his breakout season with a FedEx Cup title. I feel he deserves this perhaps greater than I deserve it. He performed an unbelievable season. He did not have his finest stuff right now, and I performed effectively and took benefit of that. Scottie may have loads extra probabilities to win FedEx Cups. Hell of a participant, hell of a competitor. Even higher individual. Love his household.
“Look, it’s hard. You don’t really know what to say on the 18th green because he’s had such a great year, but he’ll be back, and he’s a great player, and I told him this certainly isn’t the last time that we’re going to have these battles on the golf course.”
Three truths stay within the wake of Scheffler’s slip on Sunday that he can cling to for the longer term.
The finest gamers have a seeming preternatural capacity to compartmentalize losses and put them in inaccessible locations. If Scheffler was unable to do that, he doubtless by no means would have risen to No. 1 on this planet. If this isn’t a prerequisite of changing into the highest participant on this planet, it’s rattling shut to at least one.
Who you might be issues way over what you do. The viral video of Scheffler’s father and spouse hugging McIlroy — within the wake of their man kicking away $11.5 million and a fifth win on nationwide tv — is grace personified. It speaks to Scheffler’s character. Maybe that doesn’t matter on the subject of the world of sports activities, however conversely, perhaps it is the solely factor that issues.
The final fact is the toughest one for McIlroy to internalize. He informed Scheffler after their duel that they are now even within the state of Georgia this year. Though the scoreboard confirms this — the duo completed 1-2 at each the Masters and Tour Championship — they each know they are not fairly even.
This needs to be one thing that Scheffler carries into this fall and past. Because as pleasant and celebratory a day as this was for McIlroy, he would nonetheless commerce all the cash he earned, all that he achieved in a 2022 capped by yet one more huge win on Sunday for Scottie’s even larger win on that Sunday in Georgia simply 4 months in the past.