멤피스 TPC Southwind에서 FedEx St. Jude Championship 최종라운드가 끝났다. 세계 랭킹 1위 Scottie Scheffler의 8타 차 우승. 시즌 내내 승수로는 인정받지 못했던 그의 진가가 이번 주에 드러났다.
01셰플러의 우승: 세계 최고 선수의 증명
"세계 랭킹 1위가 시즌을 단 1승으로 끝낸다는 것은 정상이 아니었다"라는 내용이 기사의 시작이었다. 7개월 전 The American Express에서 셰플러의 첫 우승을 보고, 필자는 "혹시 8승도 가능할까?"라고 생각했다. 당시 셰플러는 6개월간 단 5명의 골퍼에게만 졌고, 지난 6경기 중 4경을 우승했기 때문이다.
7개월이 지나 2번째 우승이 나왔다. 하지만 이제는 뒤돌아볼 여유가 있다. 셰플러는 이미 증명했다. FedExCup 1위로 시즌을 시작했고, 상금 랭킹 1위, 스트로크 게인 총점 1위, 스코어링 평균 1위. 부족한 것은 승수뿐이었다.
올 시즌 PGA 투어 최고의 골퍼는 셰플러다. 일요일 우승 전도, 후도 변하지 않는다필자
왜 이렇게 오래 걸렸을까? 셰플러는 우리를 망쳤다. 지난 시즌들의 높은 기준이 올해를 압도했고, 높은 기대감이 우리의 눈을 먼하게 했다. 4년 연속 Player of the Year 기준에는 못 미친다. 이는 명백하다. 하지만 다른 경쟁자들과 비교하면 여전히 최고 수준이다.
이번 우승은 특별하다. 8타 차 승리는 올 시즌 최대 격차다. 4타 이상 차로 결정된 토너먼트는 올해 단 4경인데, 셰플러가 그중 2경을 차지했다. 통산 21우승까지 올린 셰플러는 5타 이상 차 우승이 6경. 지난 30년간 Tiger Woods보다 적게 한 선수는 없다.
02상위 50인 진출 확정: 한 경기의 운명
FedEx St. Jude Championship의 진정한 드라마는 상위 50인 진출 여부였다. 이 경쟁은 PGA 투어 시즌 내 가장 치명적이다. 상위 50인에 들면 Signature Event 참전이 보장되고, 투어에서의 삶이 완전히 달라진다.
생활 자체가 달라진다Keith Mitchell
Keith Mitchell은 상위 50인 진출 실패로 그 차이를 뼈저리게 느꼈다. 지난해 상위 50인 탈락 이후 1년 내내 Signature Event 대기자 명단에만 올라있던 그. 이번 주가 마지막 기회였다. 18번홀에서 버디가 필요했지만, 드라이브가 물 근처로 날아가고, 발을 물에 담그면서 친 세컨드 샷도 물에 빠졌다. 결과는 1타 차 탈락.
03스피스의 아쉬운 탈락
또 다른 주인공은 Jordan Spieth였다. 그의 시즌을 한 단어로 표현하면 "가까스로(close)"다. 이 단어는 시즌 내내 그를 따라다녔다. 상위 선수들에게 가까워졌고, 메이저 챔피언십에 가까워졌다고 했다. 긍정적인 톤이었다.
하지만 이번 주 그 "가까움"은 잔인했다. 상위 50인 진출을 위해 상위 10위 안에 들어야 했다. 그런데 시즌 내내 그런 결과를 낸 적이 없었다. 최종라운드 백나인에서 Spieth는 붕괴했다. 이브 플레이(37타)였다면 충분했는데, 2오버(37타)를 기록했다. FedExCup 52위로 마감. 3년 연속 상위 50인 탈락이다.
앞으로 좋은 일이 일어날 거라고 자신한다. 지난 6주간의 작은 실수들이 시간 부족으로 이어졌을 뿐이다조던 스피스
최종적으로 상위 50인에 진출한 선수는 Sungjae Im 한 명뿐이었다. 53위에서 40위로 올라온 그는 Keith Mitchell을 제치면서 진출권을 따냈다.
04Original (English) — PGA TOUR
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It never felt right that the world No. 1 may end the year with only one win ...
Nearly seven months ago, I sat beside the 18th green at The American Express and wondered whether Scottie Scheffler might win eight times this season.
At that moment, watching Scheffler close out win No. 1 by a comfortable margin in Palm Springs, California, it felt entirely plausible. He had lost to only five golfers in six months, winning four of his last six tournaments.
With the benefit of hindsight, I don't regret it. Even if it took seven months before win No. 2 arrived.
Scheffler began this past week first in the FedExCup and atop the money list. He was No. 1 in scoring average, Strokes Gained: Total and top 10s. The only thing he lacked was the wins to validate what our eyes were telling us. Now we see it clearly.
Scheffler has been the best golfer on the PGA TOUR this season. It was true before his eight-stroke victory Sunday at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, and it is resounding after it. Why did it take so long to come around?
The truth is, Scheffler has spoiled us. The highs of his previous seasons colored his current one, and the heightened expectations kept us from appreciating what was in front of us. He hasn't matched the level that earned him four straight Player of the Year awards. That's inarguable. Against those lofty expectations, his 2026 season looks underwhelming. But against the rest of his competition, it's still elite. When we have some distance between us and the 2026 PGA TOUR season, that will crystallize.
Will that lead to a fifth straight Player of the Year? It's hard to say. Wins matter above all, and Scheffler would be the first to say that he hasn't won enough. He has two wins and five runners-up. He didn't win a major or THE PLAYERS Championship, and he trails Matt Fitzpatrick and Chris Gotterup in overall victories (both have three).
Yet, it's hard to say any wins have felt as convincing as Scheffler's on Sunday. The eight-stroke margin is the biggest of the season. Only four tournaments have been decided by a margin of four or more this year. Scheffler owns two of them. Up to 21 career victories, Scheffler has won six tournaments by five or more strokes. Only Tiger Woods has done that more in the last 30 years.
Scheffler is finding his name next to Woods more often in statistics like that. He's also finding himself bearing an outsized share of our expectations, as was the case for so many years of Woods' career.
I know there are only two more tournaments left in Scheffler's FedExCup season. It's not mathematically possible, yet somehow, I'm still expecting Scheffler to reach eight wins.
Keith Mitchell bottom lined the consequence of making or missing the top 50 and the BMW Championship.
"It's a different life," he said.
That's what was at stake Sunday. The fight to reach the top 50 of the FedExCup is the most consequential of the season. Make it, and you're almost assured multiple more years on the PGA TOUR because of the advantage of playing Signature Events. Miss it, and everything gets harder.
Mitchell knows. He spent the year floating just outside the periphery of it, sitting on alternate lists at Signature Events, unable to craft a consistent schedule after missing the top 50 a year ago. He had the opportunity to change that this week.
He fell one spot short.
"If you're in at the start of the season, it's a different life, literally, as a PGA TOUR player. It felt like that out there today," Mitchell said.
That pressure defined the final round at TPC Southwind. As Scheffler's lead grew, the only drama left was who would make it through to next week. Mitchell was one of the central characters. He needed to birdie the 18th, but nearly hit his drive in the water and, standing with his feet in the pond while hitting his approach, rinsed his second shot to effectively end his season.
The other character was Jordan Spieth. His season can be epitomized in one word: close. If you followed Spieth for any part of the season, you probably heard him utter that word half a dozen times. It has been the theme of his year. He believes he is close. Close to returning to a top player in the world. Close to contending again in majors. He has preached it in a positive light.
This week, close felt cruel. He needed to finish inside the top 10 to have a chance of advancing. Except he hadn't done that all season. Instead, close earned him a month off. Spieth melted on the back nine, shooting 2-over 37 when even par would have been enough to survive. He finished 52nd in the FedExCup and will narrowly miss the top 50 for the third straight season.
"I'm very, very confident in what's coming," Spieth said. "I just ran out of steam and maybe made a couple bad decisions over about a six-week stretch on what I was working on, and I just didn't quite have enough time to make up for it."
Ultimately, only one golfer moved inside the top 50 this week. Sungjae Im vaulted from 53rd to 40th and knocked out Mitchell. Im has never missed the TOUR Championship in seven-plus seasons on the PGA TOUR.
Meanwhile, who is in for a rude awakening – good and bad – next season? Here are the golfers who will experience new environs next year.
First time in top 50:Kristoffer Reitan, Alex Fitzpatrick, Alex Smalley, Gary Woodland, Nicolai Hojgaard, Michael Thorbjornsen, Jake Knapp, Nico Echavarria, Ryo Hisatsune, Michael Brennan, Matt McCarty
First time out of top 50:Brian Harman, Corey Conners, Keegan Bradley,Jason Day, Denny McCarthy
