Scottie Scheffler has won 17 times in the last 3½ years. He won four majors in a span of 1,197 days, which, in an eerie coincidence, is exactly the number of days between Tiger Woods’ first and fourth majors.
Buoyed by the LIV bump — the rise in PGA Tour purses because of the emergence of the rival LIV Golf tour — Scheffler has won nearly $91 million. That ranks third behind Rory McIlroy, a LIV-era contemporary who holds second place by just $16 million despite having won 12 more tournaments and one more major over 12 more seasons. Scheffler ranks third behind Woods, the pre-LIV legend who’s in first by only $30 million despite winning 14 more majors and 65 more tournaments over 20 more seasons.
Why the use of “only” to delineate the differences?
Because in 2024, Scheffler made more than $29 million. Scheffler stands at $19.2 million this season, so he can’t equal his record from 2024, but then, he injured his hand while making ravioli on Christmas Day, which cost him two tournaments and hurt his early form when he returned.
(Scheffler tore up the stats again this season, recalling some of Tiger’s greatest runs, but my favorite stat was kind of obscure: He was No. 1 in “rough proximity,” the proximity of his ball to the pin on shots from the rough. His mark, 38 feet, 6 inches, was 5 feet, 2 inches better than he was last season, when he ranked 30th. He also was 1 foot better than last year’s leader, Troy Merritt. In fact, among golfers with at least 150 such attempts, his 2025 results were the best in six years.)
So, while Scheffler can’t equal the $29 million from last season, he can come close.
The FedEx Cup playoffs begin Thursday at the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis. The second playoff event will be next week at the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club outside Baltimore. First place in each event earns $3.6 million.
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Scheffler has finished in the top 10 in his last 11 events, which includes wins at the British Open and the PGA Championship as well as solo fourth place at the Masters and a tie for seventh at the U.S. Open.
He is the favorite, at +280, to win his second consecutive FedEx Cup championship. That comes with a $25 million bonus, which does not count toward PGA Tour season or career earnings.
Scheffler will get closer to Rory this weekend, since Rory isn’t playing St. Jude, and, with a 69-player field (which would be 70 with Rory), there is no cut.
What this means is, by this time next year, Scheffler could be the all-time leading money winner in PGA Tour history despite having played just five seasons. Consider: Even fifth place at each of the playoff events earns $800,000 and $830,000, respectively. If Scheffler earns $1.7 million more this season, then replicates 2024 in 2026, he’ll almost certainly catch Tiger, who’s currently recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon and who has made about $200,000 since 2020.
Of course, entering the BMW, Rory will have averaged about $13 million the last three seasons, so next season, he could catch Tiger, too.
Lessons from ‘The Playing Lesson’
I seldom review books, partly because it’s a touchy task to critique one’s peers, but mainly because those peers write so many books so well, it’s mainly out of jealousy.
This book was different.
Michael Bamberger was a sportswriter at The Inquirer just before I landed in Philadelphia, and he was at Sports Illustrated before I arrived, but I always read him — he’s written 11 books — and, lately, I’ve gotten to know him. Not super well — we’ve never played together — but I hope to get to know him better after reading The Playing Lesson.
With the professional golf season winding down, it would make for a pleasant distraction in the weeks and months to come.
I read like I eat, which is to say, constantly, but I generally have little interest in sports books. I literally couldn’t put this one down.
It teaches you. He teaches you, about tolerance and patience and character and respect for other people’s views. I’m not sure if this is intentional, but it happens.
The book tells clear, precise stories with a brevity and objectivity for which every storyteller strives.
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You learn a little bit about him as a cerebral, quirky golf dude, a little bit about the job of being a journalist, more specifically, a golf writer. Folks who don’t golf can learn a little bit about the addiction to golf from a person who is in love with the game and its illusions, as opposed to a person who is in love with just preparing and performing. It is a very human narrative.
Bamberger, now a senior writer at Golf.com, lovingly romanticizes a game that, for many in today’s megabyte-driven, analytically quantified world, has become more a joyless exercise in power and precision than a pastime pursued for the pleasure of performing a task that is physically difficult, mentally challenging, and socially constructive.
It makes you wistful for the old days, sad about the new days, and conscious that you should play for the right reasons: congenial competition at the best of your ability as you feel the grass beneath your feet, the wind in your face, and the sun on your neck (he’s really into the grass and wind and sun stuff).
It really is a charming book about golf, and life, and a golfing life.
