스콧티 셸플러의 2026 시즌은 우승만 보면 가장 화려하지 않을 수 있다. 하지만 일관성 면에서는 어느 때보다 높은 수준을 유지하고 있다. 현재 세계 1위인 셸플러는 FedEx St. Jude Championship 우승(플레이오프 개막) 후 약 7개월 만에 두 번째 우승을 거머쥐었다. 그 사이 5개의 준우승과 10개의 톱10 피니시를 기록했다.
01일관성의 핵심: 강도 조절
셸플러는 4년 이상 세계 1위 자리를 지켜왔다. TOUR Championship 개막 전 수요일 그는 이 일관성의 비결을 '강도'라고 꼽았다.
제 커리어를 통해 배운 게 있다면, 각 라운드마다 일정한 강도를 가져가는 것입니다. 이건 말하기는 쉽지만 실행하기는 어려워요. 저는 경쟁심을 가지고 태어났고, 여기서 경쟁하고 플레이하는 것을 사랑합니다.스콧티 셸플러
02매킬로이의 인정
셸플러의 시즌 성적은 로리 매킬로이 같은 톱 선수들까지 설득했다. BMW Championship에서 FedEx St. Jude를 8타 차로 우승한 성적이 충분히 Player of the Year 자격이 있다는 평가다.
로리 매킬로이는 올해 Player of the Year는 절대 아니라며, 셸플러가 맞다고 명확히 했다.
03어린 아들 두 명을 둔 아버지의 경험
30세의 셸플러는 올해 두 번째 아들을 낳으며 인생의 가장 소중한 챕터를 시작했다. 여전히 미국 오픈을 제패하지 않은 상태에서도 그의 동기는 바뀌었다.
셸플러는 골프가 항상 풀어야 할 퍼즐이 있다는 점이 매력이라고 설명했다. 그는 많은 운동선수가 은퇴 후 골프를 시작하는 이유도 이 때문이라고 말했다. 준비와 목표를 향한 나아갈 길이 있다는 점에서 축구나 농구 같은 종목의 선수들이 은퇴 후 느끼는 공허함과 달리, 골프는 계속 도전할 요소가 있다는 의미다.
04에너지 관리의 대가
Gary Woodland는 셸플러의 특별함을 직접 목격했다. 같은 스윙 코치 Randy Smith 아래 있는 우드랜드는 셸플러와 함께 한 많은 연습 라운드를 '트레이닝 캠프'라고 부른다.
Gary Woodland는 셸플러가 자신을 누구보다 잘 이해한다고 평가했다. 최근 몇 년간 많은 시간을 함께 하며 대부분의 연습 라운드를 공유한 경험에서 셸플러의 에너지 관리 능력이 인상적이라고 말했다. 자신을 얼마나 잘 조절하는지 보는 것이 정말 놀랍다고 했다.
05일과 가족의 균형
2024 FedExCup 챔피언인 셸플러는 올해 가족으로서의 책임도 커졌다. 손, 발 입 병에서 회복한 그는 이번 주 우승으로 매킬로이(2016·2019·2022)와 타이거 우즈(2007·2009) 다음으로 플레이오프 시대 두 번 이상 시즌 타이틀을 거머쥐는 선수가 될 수 있다.
하지만 그의 시각은 이미 바뀌었다. 부모로서의 책임 속에서도 투어 시즌의 소중함을 깨달았기 때문이다.
지금 저는 두 명의 어린 아들을 돌보는 입장이라 정말 힘들어요. 어린 아들이 있는 분들이라면 알 텐데, 정말 항상 피곤합니다. 하지만 한편으로는 시즌을 즐겨야 해요. 왜냐하면 어느 순간 아이들이 더 이상 투어에 함께할 수 없는 나이가 되니까요. 힘들지만, 동시에 이것도 언젠가는 끝나니까 즐겨야 해요.스콧티 셸플러
06Original (English) — PGA TOUR
ATLANTA – Based on wins alone, the 2026 season has not been Scottie Scheffler's most prolific. However, his level of consistency has not experienced any drop-off, and if anything, has been raised a notch.
The long-standing world No. 1 golfer picked up his second PGA TOUR win this year nearly seven months after his first at the first FedExCup Playoffs event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Sandwiched in between came five runner-up finishes and 10 top 10s to his credit. He has racked up at least 10 top-five finishes in each of his last five seasons, with 21 victories and four major championships.
A lot has been made of Scheffler's golden standard on TOUR, as he's maintained the title of world's best for more than four years. To him, through the additions to his family this year with the birth of his second son, one thing has kept him at that level: intensity.
"I think for me one thing I've learned over the course of my career is just bringing a certain type of intensity to each round," Scheffler said Wednesday ahead of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club. "I think that's something that's a lot easier said than done. I was born being competitive, and I love being able to compete and play out here, and it's something I don't take for granted."
The Texan's play this season has gone so far as to convince top players like Rory McIlroy that his FedEx St. Jude eight-shot runaway was more than sufficient a case for his fifth straight Player of the Year award.
"I'm not the Player of the Year, no chance," McIlroy said prior to last week's BMW Championship. "Scottie is."
For how much he's accomplished at only 30 years old – except for completing the Grand Slam with a U.S. Open victory – the allure of the game itself is what drives Scheffler to keep striving.
"I think the game of golf, you're always – there's always something to figure out. I think that's why you see a lot of athletes, when they finish their sport, they always take up golf. Because I think as an athlete, you love the preparation, you love working towards something," Scheffler said.
"It can be weird for somebody. Let's say like if you're a football player and you retire at 35 years old, or a basketball player, like you've done that sport and you've had your routine and your preparation. You've done it for basically 30 years; then all of a sudden you retire, and you're like, wait, 'What am I working towards?' I feel like in golf it's a puzzle that you're always trying to solve."
McIlroy is not by any means alone in his respect for Scheffler's sustained run at the highest level of golf humans can generate. Gary Woodland, who qualified for his first TOUR Championship since 2019 after an emotional win at the Texas Children's Houston Open, has had multiple opportunities to witness Scheffler's otherworldly play, both inside the ropes and during friendly matches.
"I think Scottie understands himself better than anybody I've been around. I've spent a lot of time around him the last couple years, played most practice rounds together, and watching him go about his business and understanding what he can and can't do," Woodland said Wednesday.
"He manages – talk about managing energy. I don't know if anyone manages their energy as well as Scottie does as well. It's impressive to see how he is in control."
Woodland and Scheffler share Randy Smith as their swing coach, and the former said he has deposited a lot in his memory banks from practice sessions with Scheffler, whether in the world's best's hometown of Dallas or in Memphis ahead of the Playoffs opener. He affectionately calls these sessions "training camp."
"It's amazing being with Randy, but it's amazing for me to practice with Scottie as well and watch how he goes about his business and watch what he does. So, yeah, I spend as much time with him as I can for sure," Woodland said.
Scheffler, the 2024 FedExCup champion, can join McIlroy (2016, 2019, 2022) and Tiger Woods (2007, 2009) as the only players in Playoffs history with multiple season-long titles with a win in Atlanta this week. Having a few days to recover from hand, foot and mouth disease could be all he needs to reclaim the trophy.
Whether he leaves East Lake empty-handed or not, though, Scheffler's perspective has forever shifted as a father of two. That pocket of his life is much slower, not under the microscope, unlike his TOUR life. But this "balancing act," as Scheffler labeled it, is only placing more significance on the journey.
"I'm at a point in my life where, yeah, it's really hard having two young kids and taking care of them. I think anyone with young kids can relate, you're just tired literally all the time. I think you want to enjoy the season because eventually my kids aren't going to be able to be out here," Scheffler said.
"Part of it is hard, but part of it is you've got to also enjoy it because it doesn't last."
