Scheffler, Pendrith finish strong at Tour Championship

Scottie Scheffler capped off what had already been a remarkable season with a win at the season-ending Tour Championship to claim the FedEx Cup title. He collected the whopping first prize of $25 million for his win at East Lake Golf Club. The four-shot victory boosted his season’s earnings to just under $55 million.

“It feels really nice,” Scheffler. “I've been leading the points list for a long time, so to come in here with a little lead is nice to play the way I did and be able to finish it off the right way.”

Over the course of the season, Scheffler won seven times, including at the Masters and the Players Championship. Five of those wins came over a stretch of six tournaments where he shot a combined 76-under par. Last month, he added an Olympic gold medal, earning top spot at the Games in Paris. He also finished first in 26 different statistical categories including Scoring Average where he posted a mark of 68.13, the lowest in PGA Tour history.

Scheffler appeared to be on his way to winning by a wide margin, building a seven-shot lead after five holes. But he missed a seven-foot par putt on the sixth hole and then inexplicably shanked a bunker shot on the seventh that led to another bogey. The lead dropped to just two shots.

While the rest of the field may have sensed an opening, Scheffler quickly snuffed that out with birdies over the next three holes and then added an eagle on the par-5 14th to ease his way to the win.

“I still had a two-shot lead, still in total control, and if I played my best golf on that back nine, then I was going to be most likely holding the trophy,” he stated. “If I went out with a two-stroke lead and played my best, I felt like I was going to win the tournament. I changed my focus and was able to hit a really nice shot in there into 9 and really changed the momentum of the round.”

His year also included a highlight in the birth of his first son and a lowlight when he was arrested for allegedly disobeying a police officer at the PGA Championship. Those charges were later dropped.

“It's been a great year,” said Scheffler, who has been No. 1 in the world rankings for 65 consecutive weeks. “I'm proud of the results. It's something I try not to focus too much on, but at the end of the day, being able to win tournaments is a great feeling, and it's what we work towards, and to be able to have as many wins as I have this year is really special.” said Scheffler.

His success wasn’t lost on his main challengers, who praised not only his finish at the Tour Championship but his remarkable year.

“It's amazing what he's been able to do for this entire season, and honestly kind of over this past, what is it, three years now,” said Collin Morikawa, who finished second. “It's been really cool to watch him, and hopefully I can draw something from that.”

“I think by the definition of dominance, I think that's literally where he's sitting,” added Xander Schauffele.

Taylor Pendrith, the long Canadian to make it to the Tour Championship, capped off his most successful year as a professional with a final-round 66. That left him in a tie for 14th, a finish that boosted his bank account by $905,000.

After a slow start on Sunday, the Richmond Hill, Ont., native made seven birdies over a 12-hole stretch starting at the fifth hole. His putter keyed the surge as he used just 15 putts to complete that run.

“Played pretty solid all week,” said Pendrith, who notched the first win of his PGA Tour career back in May. Played really good today, especially on the back nine, and hit two really good shots on 18 and walked out of there with a 6, which is a little disappointing right now, but overall, really good week for my first time here, and played some really solid golf.”

It was a big finish to what was a strong season for the 33-year-old, one that didn’t start off that well. After starting the season with two top-10s in his first three events, Pendrith missed the cut in five of his next six starts. Most of that was due to a nagging shoulder injury that prevented him from swinging as he usually does. He briefly considered surgery but elected to try and alleviate the ailment with physio therapy and exercise, which proved successful.

He won his first career PGA Tour event at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and followed that up with nine more finishes inside the top 25.

Pendrith is expected to have another big event on his calendar this fall. He’s hoping to get a phone call from Mike Weir asking to join the International Team at the Presidents Cup in Montreal.

“It's a huge goal of mine, and to do it under Mike, him being Canadian and having the history at that golf course, I mean, I really hope to get that call.”

Weir will announce his six captain’s picks on Tuesday at 1 pm.

The Presidents Cup will be held at Royal Montreal Golf Club starting Sept. 26.