‘I Must Be Paid’ Scottie Scheffler reveals reason why he must win $80 million without playing this week
Itโs going to be aย rain-soakedย (and delayed) regular-season finale at the Wyndham Championship this week, adding another layer of difficulty to those trying to earn their way into the PGA Tour’s postseason. But one of the weekโs biggest winners already has been decided, and he wonโt even be teeing it up.
That would be Scottie Scheffler, fresh off hisย gold-medal conquestย in Paris. Though his Olympic triumph doesnโt confer any FedEx Cup points for the PGA Tour, Scheffler has six official tour wins this season, highlighted by hisย second Masters titleย and becoming the first player to defend the Players Championship. Schefflerโs other four victoriesโthe Arnold Palmer Invitational, RBC Heritage, Memorial and Travelers Championshipโwere all signature series events, which carried higher FedEx Cup points allotments.
In short, Scheffler boatraced his competition in the tourโs season-long standings, his 5,993 points nearly 2,000 points ahead of Xander Schauffele and 3,500 in front of third-place Rory McIlroy. With this weekโs Wyndham awarding 500 points to the winner (and with Schauffele sitting this week out), Scheffler has locked up the Comcast Top 10 pole position.
The prize, created for the 2018-19 season, is given to the tourโs top regular-season points getter, with Scheffler receiving $8 million for his performance. Scheffler won the honor in 2022 and finished second to Jon Rahm last season.
This brings Schefflerโs PGA Tour earnings to more than $36 million on the year. With the first two FedEx Cup playoff events offering purses of $20 million each, and the Tour Championship boasting $100 million this season (including $25 million to the winner), thereโs still plenty of time for Scheffler to add to this total. This isn’t counting the tour’s Player Impact Program, which Scheffler should likely top for another $10 million. Scheffler already has the tour record for most earnings in one season, racking up $21 million last year.
Along with Scheffler, Schauffele and McIlroy, others in the top 10 heading into the week are Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Aberg, Sahith Theegala, Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im and Shane Lowry. Both Im and Lowry are in this weekโs field; those who could crack the top 10 with a win include Akshay Bhatia (No. 15), Robert MacIntyre (No. 17), Brian Harman (No. 21) and Christiaan Bezuidenhout (No. 22).
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