Scottie Scheffler reasserts World No. 1 status with second FedEx Cup title

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler erased a three-shot deficit on Sunday at East Lake Golf Club, as he closed with a 4-under 66 and won the Tour Championship by three strokes over Viktor Hovland. The victory gave Scheffler a second FedEx Cup title in three years and ended a season-long argument about whether the ranking still fit.

Scheffler finished 16 under. Hovland, who started the final round in front, shot 72 and settled for second at 13 under. Ryan Gerard was alone in third. It was Scheffler’s third PGA Tour win of 2026 and the 22nd of his career.

Comeback built on a firm, windy East Lake

East Lake played narrower than usual. The greens were firmer. The wind, rare for Atlanta, pushed approaches offline. Most of the last groups failed to break par. Scottie Scheffler did not.

He announced himself early, nearly acing the par-3 second and taking two birdies in his first four holes. A birdie at the 10th drew him level with Hovland. Another at the 13th put him in front. A bogey at the long 14th tied them again and set up a four-hole finish.

Leading by one at the par-4 16th, Scheffler drove into a left fairway bunker. His approach stopped 11 feet from the hole. He made the putt and stretched the lead to two. Hovland missed an 8-foot birdie try on 16, then flew the 17th green from 103 yards and made bogey. That was the tournament.

"The golf course got a bit firmer," Scheffler said. "There was some wind. I feel like for Atlanta, this feels like a lot of wind. It's pretty rare to get some wind here. Yeah, with the way the rough is, when it gets firm, the fairway started to play a little more narrow. Today was a day I was fortunate to get off to a good start and was able to make some birdies late in the round to kind of seal the deal."

One regular-season win, then a playoff close

The case against Scottie Scheffler was simple. He won only once before the playoffs. He had five runner-up finishes. US Open champion Wyndham Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick and Chris Gotterup all won more often. Consistency was never the issue. Closing was.

Scheffler kept grinding after poor opening rounds and stayed in contention anyway.

"I think that's something I'm very proud of," Scheffler said. "I think when you look over the course of the season, and especially some of the tough starts; shooting over par to start a tournament on the PGA Tour is never a good spot to be in. I'm very proud of fighting back and having some good finishes and even giving myself some chances to win with some of those poor starts.

"Overall, [I] just continued to battle, day in and day out. It's something that I'm very proud of. It's a gift to be out here on tour. Each and every day, I'm going to try to give it my best."

The playoffs settled it. Two weeks ago he won the FedEx St. Jude Championship by eight shots in Memphis. Last week he played the BMW Championship with hand, foot and mouth disease and still tied for 12th. On Sunday, he finished the job.

Earnings record follows the trophy

The $10 million first prize pushed Scheffler past Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour’s all-time on-course earnings list at about $130.4 million, ending Woods’ 26-year hold on the mark. Scheffler now joins Woods and Rory McIlroy as the only multiple FedEx Cup champions. McIlroy has three titles. Woods and Scheffler have two.

When Player of the Year is announced in December, Scheffler is in position to match Woods as the only golfer to win the award five seasons in a row.

The regular season left a question. Sunday answered it. The world No. 1 is still the world No. 1.