Scheffler Wins St Jude by Eight — Largest Margin at TPC Southwind in 68 Years
Scottie Scheffler won the FedEx St. Jude Championship by eight shots on Sunday, closing with a 4-under 66 at TPC Southwind in Memphis to finish the week at 17-under-par 263. It was the first event of the 2026 FedExCup Playoffs — the three-tournament series that decides the PGA Tour's season champion — and the world number one treated it like a Sunday stroll.
The eight-shot margin was the largest winning advantage at TPC Southwind in 68 years, according to PGA Tour. That is not a typo. Nearly seven decades of professional golf at this Memphis layout, and nobody has separated themselves from the field by that many strokes.
Scheffler set the tone early. He shot a second-round 61 — ten under par on a single day, the kind of score that bends a leaderboard out of shape and leaves the chasing field playing for second (PGA Tour). A third-round 68 kept him two clear heading into Sunday, as Golf Channel reported, and from there the final round was a lap of honour rather than a contest.
The victory was Scheffler's 21st on the PGA Tour and earned him 750 FedExCup points and $3.6 million in prize money (PGA Tour). The points matter because the playoffs are a progression: the top 70 players who started the week in Memphis advance to the next event, and Scheffler has now bolted himself to the top of that standings list.
For a golfer who spent much of 2024 and 2025 collecting trophies at a rate that made the sport look straightforward, this was another reminder that when Scheffler's ball-striking is on, the rest of the field is playing a different game. TPC Southwind demands precision off the tee — narrow fairways, water hazards that catch anything leaked right, and Bermuda greens that punish timid putting. Scheffler led the field in the categories that decide tournaments here: greens in regulation and scrambling, the two stats that tell you who is hitting it close and who is saving par when they miss.
The playoffs continue next week with the BMW Championship, where the field narrows to 50 players. From there, the top 30 advance to the Tour Championship in Atlanta, where the season champion is crowned and a further $25 million bonus awaits. Scheffler has put himself in pole position for all of it.
Eight shots, 68 years, 21 wins. The numbers do the talking.
