Scheffler claims maiden FedEx Cup and $25 million bonus, Korea’s Im finishes as top Asian

Scottie Scheffler wound up a season of remarkable achievements with a four-stroke victory over fellow-American Collin Morikawa at the staggered-start Tour Championship, the FedEx Cup Playoffs finale, in Atlanta on Sunday.

The world number one continued his magical run of 2024 that also saw him win gold at the Paris Olympic Games to take his number of titles to seven with a closing 7 under total in the handicap-based scoring system. In all, Scheffler ended the season with $62.2 million in official money and bonus money, the PGA Tour said.

Scheffler became the fifth player to enter the Tour Championship as no. 1 in the standings and go on to win the FedEx Cup, and the first since Patrick Cantlay in 2021. His 50th career week at no. 1 is the second-highest since the rankings started in 2007 behind the 85 weeks recorded by Tiger Woods and just ahead of Dustin Johnson’s 49 weeks.

Texan Scheffler’s official money total for the season of  $29,228,357 is the most in PGA Tour history and he has rewritten the mark of official earnings in each of the last three seasons for a grand total of $64.289 million.

Starting the week with a 10 under cushion, and two ahead of Xander Schauffele (70-64-71-68), who finished tied fourth, Scheffler (65-66-66-67) became the first man to win the Players Championship, the Masters Tournament and FedEx Cup in the same year with his 30 under par 264 total. Morikawa (66-63-67-66) was second on 26 under and young Indian-American Sahith Theegala (67-66-66-64) third with his 24 under.

Fellow Indian-American Akshay Bhatia though had a low-key week with cards of 70, 69, 71 and 71 for a 5 under aggregate and 26th place in the restricted field. Indo-Brit Aaron Rai, who earlier won his maiden PGA Tour title, was tied 23rd on 6 under at the East Lake Golf Club.

Korea’s Sungjae Im emerged as the top Asian in Atlanta after a closing 7-under 64 led to a solo seventh place finish. Im, who started the week on 3-under in the staggered scoring format, made an eagle, six birdies and a bogey at East Lake to finish the week on 18-under for his second top-10 in the lucrative tournament.

Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama shared ninth place on 16-under following a final round 67 after starting his week third in the 30-man field while Korea’s Byeong Hun An, who was making his debut, took tied 21st place after signing for a 69. It was Matsuyama’s fourth top-10 in the Tour Championship.

Im enjoyed several big moments during his final round, including holing a monster 64-foot birdie conversion at the second hole and driving the green on the par-4 eighth hole which he drained a 26-footer for his eagle. He made another 21-foot birdie on the 17th hole to end his week on a high.

“t's been a lot of fun because it's the sixth year in a row that I've qualified for the Tour Championship, so I enjoyed this week a lot. The newly restored golf course was a little bit difficult at first, but I think I've adapted quickly. I am happy I finished well with 7-under,” said Im.

He will now prepare for a third successive appearance for the International team to face the US in the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal later this month.

Since May, Im has enjoyed seven top-10s and he hopes to play a big part in upsetting the dominant US team which will be led by man-of-the moment, Scheffler. “The Presidents Cup is coming up soon. I think the Internationals will be very excited about this opportunity, and we'll enjoy the week. We will do our best and try hard to perform in front of our (home) fans,” said the 26-year-old Korean.

Scheffler was never quite threatened as he claimed his first FedEx Cup and his 13th career tour title which made up for losing the opportunity lift the prize over the past two years where he entered the event as the top seed.

“It's a lot of fun. We've put in a lot of work to get to this point, and it's been a long week. Right now I'm just pretty tired, so don't really know how to put this into words. But it's a pretty special feeling to be finally holding the trophy,” said Scheffler.

“I try not to think too much about the past or think too much about the future, but I think two years ago was pretty tough, having a good lead going into the last round and not playing my best and then losing, and then last year I just had a pretty off week so was fairly disappointing. So come in with a lead for the third time and be able to finish it off is definitely pretty sweet.”