Atlanta (USA): Indian American Sahith Theegala, who stunned the world by calling a two-shot penalty on himself a day earlier, finished a brilliant third in the FedExCup golf tournament, which ended with the Tour Championship. He took $7.5m, his highest pay cheque ever, for his effort.
Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler won golf’s biggest prize with a 4-under 67 for a four-shot victory over Collin Morikawa to capture the FedExCup and its $25 million prize, the richest in golf.
Morikawa, the No.7 seed started the tournament, with a 4-under start, which was also six shots behind Scheffler. With 66-63-67-66 he had the lowest 72-hole score of the Tour Championship at 22-under 262. He was 26-under including his 4-under start.
Sahith Theegala, who called a two-shot penalty on himself Saturday for possibly brushing a small amount of sand on a bunker shot, closed with a 64. He started at 3-under and his rounds of 67-66-66-64 saw him finish with a 72-hole total of 263 and he was 21-under for four rounds, second best only to Morikawa. He finished with 24-under, including his 3-shot start.
As Scheffler took $25 m, Morikawa took $12.5 million for finishing second and Theegala earned $7.5m in the FedExCup. In terms of only the 72-hole total, Theegala’s 72-hole total was 21-under, the second best to Morikawa’s 22-under. Scheffler, who started at 10-under was 20-under for his four rounds and his total was 30-under.
The other Indian American Akshay Bhatia, who started the event at 2-under carded 70-69-71-71 for an overall total of 5-under and was 26th, while Indo-British Aaron Rai, who started at even shot 66-70-72-70 to be 6-under and T-23.
Scheffler’s 2024 season was the biggest year in golf in almost two decades since Tiger Woods set his amazing standards by winning eight times in 2006 including six wins in a row and two majors, all while dealing with the death of his father. Scheffler’s eight wins included the Masters, THE PLAYERS Championship, an Olympic gold medal, and the TOUR Championship that enabled him to finally claim the FedExCup. Scheffler’s seven PGA TOUR titles are the most since Woods in 2007.
This week’s success pushed Scheffler’s season earnings, including bonuses, to just under $62.3 million, though the $25 million FedExCup prize is unofficial, as is the $8 million he received from the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 for leading the regular season. His season earnings of $29,228,356 represented about 9.2% of the total purse from tournaments he played. Woods won about 11.6% of the total prize money in tournaments he played during 2000, still regarded as one of the greatest seasons ever.
It has been one of the most dramatic years for Scheffler. With his seven PGA Tour wins, the Olympic gold, and the Masters Green Jacket apart he enjoyed the birth of his first child, and endured the bizarre arrest in Louisville, Kentucky, before the second round of the PGA Championship.
“This is a challenging week,” Scheffler said at the trophy ceremony. “I’m exhausted right now.”
–IANS