It’s fitting that Scottie Scheffler (Titleist Pro V1) ended his 2026 season with a win after starting out with one.
His victory in the Tour Championship punctuated his status as the no. 1 golfer in the world.
Though it appeared that he might be slipping—at least compared to the last few years—Scheffler was good but not great. He finished second five times, including a stretch of three tournaments in a row, and missed a cut for the first time in nearly four years.
Like I said, good but not great.
He had a habit of starting off slowly and then rebounding, but too late.
He put it all together in the FedExCup playoffs, winning the FedEx St. Jude Championship by a whopping eight strokes. In the BMW Championship he tied for 12th, playing through hand, foot and mouth disease, but put it behind him winning the Tour Championship.
Maybe Matt Fitzpatrick (Titleist Pro V1x) is right: Declare Scheffler the champion for what he did all season and ignore the playoffs. The thing is, Scheffler was great in the playoffs, too.
In effect, he underlined what we already knew: when at the top of his game Scheffler is hard to beat.
What he’s done in the last five years is phenomenal, breathtaking, stunning—use whatever adjective you wish.
He is now the PGA Tour’s all-time career money leader with $130,390,661, not including bonus money, surpassing the mark of $120,999,166 held by Tiger Woods (Bridgestone Tour B X) since 2000. Yes, it took 26 years to topple a record that many people thought would stand the test of time.
That Scheffler did it so quickly speaks to his ability as a generational player—I’ve referred to him as the Tom brady of professional golf. Since he hooked up with caddie Ted Scott in November 2021, it has been an amazing partnership. Scott taught Scheffler to play without anger, which had been his demon in his past, though he’s had the occasional outburst this year. Hey, he’s human.
Scheffler is arguably the humblest sports superstar in the world. He eschews any comparison to Woods and downplays his achievements. His focus is on his family and faith; golf is third in his list of priorities in life.
That he is so grounded is really a testament to his emergence as the best player in his profession and Scott’s influence. So, should we just take what he does in stride—which he would prefer—or should we take a few moments to acknowledge his greatness?
Look, if he were as flashy as Rory McIlroy (TaylorMade TP5), it would make for a great narrative. But he’s not. He just goes about his business without making a big deal or feeling the need to be vocal about himself or the state of pro golf. McIlroy has become the de facto mouth among players on the PGA Tour. When he speaks, people listen. He’s earned the right to speak—about whatever he wants—winning the Masters in back-to-back years and recording his personal grand slam. Whether you agree or disagree with what he says, he is not shy about using his platform.
Isn’t it also interesting that Scheffler emerged as the PGA Tour’s best player at a time when LIV Golf became a conflicting presence? We’ll never know if he became so dominant because several top players took the money offered by LIV and turned their backs on the PGA Tour. It’s really a moot point.
All we’ll know is barring something crazy, Scheffler will start the 2027 season as the best in the world and maybe finish it that way.
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR: What if Ryan Gerard (Titleist Pro V1) pulled off the upset of the 2026 PGA Tour season by winning the Tour Championship?
I was really hoping for a Cinderella story, especially when Gerard trailed Viktor Hovland (Titleist Pro V1) by one stroke heading into the fourth round. Gerard is relatively unknown on the PGA Tour. He came into the season with only one career win, last year in the Barracuda Championship. I’m not even sure what that tournament is. Overall, he has made 59 of 79 starts on the PGA Tour, which is not bad. This is only his second full-time season on the tour.
After starting off the season with two runner-up finishes, including in The American Express won by Scheffler, people started to take notice of him. Overall, he had three-runner finishes heading into the Tour Championship. He couldn’t maintain his momentum, but the reality is he was playing both the course and the fast-charging Scheffler. But I’m sure he was happy finishing third. What a year he has had, and it wouldn’t be shocking if U.S. Captain Brandt Snedeker (Titleist Pro V1) picked him for the Presidents Cup.
OH BROTHER: What about Alex Fitzpatrick (Titleist Pro V1x) tying for fourth in the Tour Championship, while brother Matt tied for 21st? Good for Alex, but there’s no denying Matt had a hell of a year.
Should be interesting to see how they do next year. They were dominant playing together this year winning the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
