McIlroy Backs Scottie Scheffler for Player of the Year After 8-Stroke Win

Rory McIlroy dismissed his own Player of the Year chances at Bellerive Country Club, citing Scottie Scheffler’s eight-stroke victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Scottie Scheffler secured a dominant eight-stroke victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship held at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, marking his second win of the 2026 season. The world No. 1 finished 25 strokes ahead of Rory McIlroy, who tied for 66th place at 8 over par. During the first two days of play in Memphis, McIlroy observed Scheffler gain nine strokes on the greens. This performance followed a winless stretch for Scheffler that dated back to his season-opening victory at the American Express on January 25.

Speaking Wednesday at Bellerive Country Club ahead of the BMW Championship, McIlroy stated there is "no chance" he earns the PGA Tour Player of the Year honor over Scheffler. Despite winning the Masters and recording seven top-25 finishes this season, McIlroy insisted the award belongs to the current world No. 1. Scheffler enters this week as the defending BMW Championship winner, maintaining a season where he has finished in the top 25 in 17 of his 18 starts.

Statistical Dominance and Financial Milestones

Scheffler currently leads the PGA Tour in several major statistical categories, including a scoring average of 67.9 and a greens in regulation percentage of 72.9%. His strokes gained: total stands at 2.374, while his tee-to-green metric is 1.694. Additionally, he ranks first in scrambling at 67.5% and holds the third-best putting average on tour at .680. Viktor Hovland noted that Scheffler has rectified previous struggles on the greens from 2023, leaving the golfer without a visible weakness in his game.

Financially, Scheffler has accumulated approximately $119.9 million in career on-course earnings in just his seventh season. This total places him roughly $1 million behind Tiger Woods, who has held the all-time earnings record since 2000. Scheffler attributed these high figures to increased tournament purses, acknowledging that while he is not close to Woods in career wins, the veteran's impact on the sport created the current financial environment for modern players.

Consistency Throughout the 2026 Season

Although Scheffler went through a significant victory drought between January and August, his 2026 campaign includes five runner-up finishes and two third-place results. The golfer emphasized that his strategy focuses on creating as many opportunities to win as possible rather than focusing solely on the difficulty of closing out tournaments. His consistency is highlighted by the fact that he has only missed the top 25 once in 18 appearances this year.

McIlroy, who could still potentially win the season-ending Tour Championship to add to his green jacket, maintained that Scheffler's statistical profile and recent eight-shot win at TPC Southwind make the Player of the Year race a certainty. The tour now moves to St. Louis for the BMW Championship, where Scheffler aims to continue a run that saw him win seven times in 2024 and six times in 2025.