It finally happened. After two years of knocking on the door and basically dominating the planet only to trip at the finish line, Scottie Scheffler is officially the 2024 FedEx Cup winner. Honestly, if he hadn’t won it this time, people might have started whispering about a curse at East Lake. He came into the Tour Championship as the number one seed for the third straight year. In 2022, he blew a six-shot lead. In 2023, his putter went cold. But 2024? This was different.
The guy didn't just win; he essentially completed golf.
By the time he tapped in on the 18th at East Lake, he had a four-shot lead over Collin Morikawa. He finished at 30-under par. That's a staggering number, even with the staggered starting strokes system. He walked away with a $25 million bonus, bringing his total season earnings to over $62 million. To put that in perspective, that’s more than Jack Nicklaus made in his entire professional career.
The Day the Lead Almost Vanished
Golf is weird. You can be the best player in the world, leading by five shots on a Sunday, and suddenly you're shanking a bunker shot sideways. That actually happened to the 2024 FedEx Cup winner. On the 8th hole, Scheffler hit a shot so bad it looked like something you or I would hit on a Saturday morning after three beers.
He made back-to-back bogeys on 7 and 8.
Morikawa birdied.
The seven-shot lead he had earlier? It shriveled to two.
Usually, that’s when the "here we go again" thoughts creep in. You could see it on his face—a mix of frustration and disbelief. But this is where the Scottie Scheffler era differs from everyone else. His caddie, Ted Scott, gave him a quick pep talk on the 8th green. Basically told him to wake up. Scottie’s response? He stuffed a 4-iron to five feet on the par-3 9th. Birdie. Then another birdie on 10. Then another on 11.
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Just like that, the tournament was over. He didn't just steady the ship; he sank everyone else’s.
Breaking Down the Numbers of Dominance
We talk about "Tiger-like" seasons a lot, but Scottie actually lived one. Including the FedEx Cup, he won seven times on the PGA Tour in 2024. If you ask him, he'll tell you it's eight because he won the Olympic Gold Medal in Paris, which the Tour doesn't count as an official win.
Look at this run:
- Arnold Palmer Invitational (Winner)
- THE PLAYERS Championship (Winner)
- The Masters (Winner)
- RBC Heritage (Winner)
- The Memorial (Winner)
- Travelers Championship (Winner)
- 2024 FedEx Cup Winner (Tour Championship)
He also had 17 top-10 finishes in 20 worldwide starts. He didn't miss a single cut. His ball-striking was so far ahead of the field that Data Golf tracked his Strokes Gained at over 3.0 per round. That is a level of statistical dominance we haven't seen since Tiger Woods in the early 2000s. The only thing that used to hold him back was the putter. In March, he switched to a TaylorMade Spider mallet putter. It was basically a cheat code.
The Human Side of the 2024 Season
It wasn't all just trophies and checks. This year was a rollercoaster that felt like a decade's worth of drama squeezed into six months. In May, he became a dad for the first time when his son, Bennett, was born. Then, a few days later, he was famously arrested in Louisville during the PGA Championship because of a traffic misunderstanding.
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Imagine being the world number one, doing leg stretches in a jail cell, and then going out and shooting a 66 a few hours later. That’s the 2024 FedEx Cup winner in a nutshell. He has this uncanny ability to compartmentalize everything. Whether it’s a police officer screaming at him or a $25 million putt, his heartbeat seemingly never changes.
He’s a guy who still wears wired headphones because they work and drives an old Chevy Suburban because he likes it. He’s the most "normal" superstar golf has ever had, which makes his absolute destruction of the rest of the field even more fascinating to watch.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Win
Some critics argue that the FedEx Cup "starting strokes" format is unfair. They’ll point out that Collin Morikawa actually shot a lower 72-hole score (262 vs. Scheffler’s 264) during the week at East Lake. In a traditional tournament, Morikawa wins.
But that misses the entire point of the FedEx Cup.
The format is designed to reward the season-long leader. Scheffler entered the week at 10-under because he was the best player for seven months. He earned that head start. Is it perfect? Maybe not. But it finally gave the most deserving player the trophy, something that hadn't happened for him the previous two years despite his dominance.
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What's Next for the Champion?
Now that the 2024 FedEx Cup winner has finally checked this box, the conversation shifts to his place in history. He’s at 13 career wins. He’s stayed at World No. 1 for over 100 weeks. The real question for 2025 and beyond is whether anyone can actually catch him.
If you're looking to improve your own game by watching Scottie, don't try to copy his footwork—his "dancing feet" are unique to him. Instead, look at his "next shot" mentality. He doesn't linger on the shank at the 8th. He just hits the 4-iron on the 9th.
Next Steps for Golf Fans:
- Re-watch the back nine highlights of the 2024 Tour Championship to see the specific 4-iron shot on hole 9; it’s a masterclass in pressure management.
- Track the 2025 schedule—with the new Signature Event format, Scottie will be defending a massive amount of points early in the year.
- Check your own equipment—if the world's best player saw a massive turnaround just by switching to a high-MOI mallet putter, it might be time for a fitting.
Scheffler has set a bar so high it’s almost vertical. For the rest of the guys on Tour, 2024 was a reminder that they aren't just playing against a golfer; they’re playing against a machine that occasionally shanks a ball but never, ever quits.