Scottie Scheffler overtakes Tiger Woods and finishes the season as the FedExCup champion

Scottie Scheffler won the 2026 Tour Championship, securing his second FedExCup title. The world No. 1 overcame a three-stroke deficit to Viktor Hovland in the final round at East Lake Golf Club. With a 66 and a total of 16 under Par, Scheffler ultimately prevailed over the Norwegian by three strokes.

For Scheffler, it was his 22nd victory on the PGA TOUR and his third this season. At the same time, the 30-year-old made history: With the $10 million first-place prize, he surpassed Tiger Woods as the Tour’s most successful player in terms of official career earnings.

Here you can find the leaderboard for the PGA Tour’s Tour Championship.

Scheffler Sets the Tone Early

Hovland had started the final round as the leader. Scheffler therefore had to apply pressure right from the start—and he did just that on the second hole. On the 211-yard par-3, he hit a 5-iron to within about five centimeters of the flag. That Birdie was the first sign of his comeback.

Scheffler followed up on the fourth hole. A putt from about 24 feet dropped for his next Birdie, erasing his deficit. Scheffler had caught up to Hovland and turned the tournament into a head-to-head battle.

East Lake proved significantly more challenging on Sunday than it had been during the first three days. The wind picked up, the course firmed up, and the landing areas became smaller. While the round average after three days had been 67.35 strokes, it rose to 70.07 on the final day. Of the six players at the top, only Scheffler remained under Par.

The outcome was decided on the back nine

Scheffler stayed in the tournament even when not every shot went his way. On the seventh hole, he carded a Bogey after a difficult shot from the greenside bunker. His response was immediate: from 96 yards out, he hit the ball to within seven feet of the flag and sank the Birdie Putt.

On the 10th hole, Scheffler tied Hovland again with another Birdie. On the 13th hole, he took the lead on his own for the first time after hitting a Wedge from 117 yards to within five feet. Although he relinquished the lead on the 14th, Hovland was unable to capitalize on it.

The decisive moment came on the 16th. Scheffler’s tee shot landed in a fairway bunker. Once again, the American turned a potential setback into an opportunity: His approach shot came to rest 11 feet from the hole, and he sank the Birdie putt. Scheffler now led by two strokes.

Hovland missed several key Puts on the back nine. On the 17th, he hit his approach shot from 103 yards over the green into deep Rough and had to settle for a Bogey. That effectively sealed the outcome. Scheffler played the final holes with composure.

“You have to give him credit for delivering when it counts. That’s how you win golf tournaments—and that’s how he’s won so much,” Hovland said afterward about his rival.

Here you’ll find the table showing the prize money distribution for the 2026 Tour Championship.

The FedExCup as a response to a less dominant season

Scheffler finished the tournament with a total of 264 strokes over 72 holes. Hovland finished second, three strokes behind, while Ryan Gerard took third place. For Scheffler, it was his second FedExCup title, following his win in 2024. This makes him one of only three players—along with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy —to have won the PGA TOUR’s season-ending title multiple times.

The victory also puts his season into a new light. During the regular season, Scheffler had won only one tournament. Although he recorded five second-place finishes and numerous other top finishes, by his own standards, the impression remained that he hadn’t played his most dominant season. Other players won more frequently, and Wyndham Clark also claimed the U.S. Open title.

Scheffler provided the answer in the playoffs. He won two of the three tournaments and has now also prevailed in the most important final. “Looking back on the season, I’m especially proud that I kept fighting after difficult starts and still managed to create opportunities to win,” Scheffler said.

A fifth consecutive PGA Tour Player of the Year title has thus become more likely, but it’s not officially decided yet. The players vote on the award. Scheffler, however, has significantly strengthened his case at East Lake.

Scheffler Surpasses Woods in Career Earnings

Even more significant is the impact of this victory on Scheffler’s place in PGA Tour history. With the $10 million in prize money from this win, his official career earnings rose to $130,390,661. This puts him ahead of Tiger Woods, who earned $120,999,166 in prize money during his PGA TOUR career. Rory McIlroy follows in third place with approximately $119.5 million.

This comparison must be put into context: Prize money on the PGA Tour is significantly higher today than it was during Woods’ most successful years. Scheffler therefore needed only 22 victories to break the earnings record; Woods racked up 82 victories on the PGA Tour. The record does not, therefore, measure who has had the greater athletic career. However, it does demonstrate how quickly Scheffler is combining athletic success with financial excellence.

In addition, Scheffler didn’t set the record by merely maintaining his lead. Unlike in his 2024 FedExCup victory, he started this time trailing and simultaneously posted the lowest actual score of the tournament. That was particularly significant for him. “To have a real tournament to close out the year, where I’m the winner and the player with the lowest score at East Lake, feels like a somewhat greater achievement,” Scheffler said.

A victory that highlights Scheffler’s strength

Scheffler’s 2026 season was marked by consistency, but also by setbacks. At the BMW Championship, he competed despite suffering from hand, foot, and mouth disease and still managed to fight his way to a tie for 12th place. At East Lake, he once again demonstrated what increasingly defines his career: he remains capable of performing even when conditions get tougher or a shot doesn’t go his way.

“I want to be able to tell myself at the end of my career that I did everything I could,” Scheffler explained. This aspiration perhaps describes the outcome of the Tour Championship better than any statistic. The world No. 1 wasn’t outstanding every week in 2026. However, in the week the FedExCup was decided, he was the player who remained the most reliable under pressure.

His second FedExCup title is therefore more than just another trophy. It reaffirms Scheffler’s position at the top of the PGA Tour, extends the career earnings record, and provides further proof of his ability to turn a season in his favor at the decisive moment.