MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler returned home from his British Open victory, made a few brief appearances in New York and used the claret jug to get 15-month-old son Bennett into the men’s grill at Royal Oaks in Dallas.
He is rested. The key for Scheffler, regardless of the tournament, is to be ready. But this is the time of the year, even with $15 million at stake, not to be grinding on the range.
“At this point in the year, that extra practice is maybe only going to be draining for me a little bit, and that’s something that I’ve learned to manage as my career has gone on,” Scheffler said Wednesday after his pro-am round in the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
The tournament at TPC Southwind is the start of three straight FedEx Cup playoff events that culminate with the FedEx Cup title to whoever wins the Tour Championship.
In a revamped postseason, the $25 million to the winner has been split up into three parts. Scheffler already picked up $10 million for leading the FedEx Cup in the regular season (along with $8 million from the Comcast Business Top 10 bonus program).
The FedEx Cup leader after the BMW Championship next week gets $5 million, and the winner of the Tour Championship — all 30 players start from scratch this time — gets $10 million.
The TPC Southwind is where Scheffler last missed a cut in 2022 (when the postseason was for the top 125 players, not the top 70). This year he comes to the postseason off a double major season — the PGA Championship and the British Open — and has finished in the top 10 in his last 11 tournaments dating to March.
It’s safe to say his game is in reasonably good shape. Now it’s about conserving energy for August stops in Memphis, Baltimore and Atlanta.
“I would say my prep week last week definitely looked a bit different than it would have looked before the Scottish Open (in July) and definitely looked a little bit different than it would have looked if you go back to the beginning of the year when I was coming off injury,” he said.
“So making sure I’m rested, ready to play,” he said. “My game is in a good spot, and I feel like some extra practice at this point in the year can almost be detrimental in terms of just physical and mental fatigue.”
Scheffler stopped in New York for a brief appearance on the Jimmy Fallon Show and to attend the Happy Gilmore 2 premier. A lot of time included that silver claret jug he picked up from a dominant victory at Royal Portrush.
“We had a party two weeks ago at home with some of our friends, and everybody got to drink out of it. It was a lot of fun,” Scheffler said.
He also has brought golf’s oldest trophy to his home course at Royal Oaks — Justin Leonard brought the claret jug to the course when he won the Open in 1997 — and there was one time he went with just his son.
“He whacked some golf balls around, and we hung out for a bit,” Scheffler said. “I took him to the 19th hole with me, and I got some pretty funny pictures with Bennett sitting in the 19th hole at the men’s only grill where you’ve got to be — I think you’ve got to be 19 to get in there, but I figured if we bring in a couple major championship trophies with us, they’ll let the rules slide on that one.”
And now it’s back to work. The points are quadrupled for the postseason, but Scheffler has such a lead — and Rory McIlroy is sitting this one out — that he is assured of staying at No. 1.
This is one of the most important tournaments of the year because the top 50 after this week not only advance to the BMW Championship, they are assured of getting in all the $20 million signature events next year.
Among those on the bubble for that is Jordan Spieth at No. 48, who is also trying to keep his shrinking Ryder Cup hopes alive.
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