TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 30, 2026

Scottie Scheffler

East Lake Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome the 2026 FedExCup champion, Scottie Scheffler. Scottie, now a two-time FedExCup champion, third player to win multiple FedExCup titles. Just focusing on today, being able to come from behind, what were you most proud of from what you were able to accomplish out there at East Lake?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, golf course changed a little bit today. The pins were in some really tough spots, and we got a little bit of wind, which I think made things challenging for the guys.

I was able to get off to a really good start. Made a nice par on 1, great shot into 2, and then a really nice putt there on 4. I made mistakes, I'd say, on 6 and 7, but after that I played some really solid golf, and I was able to finish the tournament off.

Q. The moment on 7 when the ball kind of hits off the bank and drops in, Ted said he kind of referred back to Memphis and the moment you guys had early on, a bit of adversity. Just wondering, you make bogey there, but then make birdie right away right after it, just being able to handle that in stride and continue on, what did that moment kind of mean in the day?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Kind of like I said yesterday, it's tough kind of choosing your spots. That was a pin on 7 that was tucked pretty far on the back left, but I had a good number. I felt like I hit a pretty good shot. It was maybe a touch left of my line. The wind was supposed to be off the left, but it went straight down and maybe off the right.

The bunker shot, if you're on the flat, it's not too bad of a spot. But goes into the other side where you have virtually no chance, I mean, it's just pretty frustrating. I felt like some of that stuff was going against me.

It was a frustrating moment, but I think sometimes that's why it's important for me to get out and be able to voice that to Ted in those moments, and he's able to sometimes calm me down, sometimes not.

I feel like Ted for me on the course is a lot more than just a caddie, someone giving me numbers. He's really in those moments with me. I look back to a couple years ago at this tournament where I shanked that bunker shot on 8, and we had a nice chat after that too. Like I said, he's a lot more than a caddie giving numbers out there for me. He's a tremendous asset as a friend and as a partner out there on the course.

Q. To have fewer trophies in a year that was not much different from the previous really great seasons, does this week and this outcome, does it change your outlook at all? If so, how much and why?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I don't know if it changes my outlook as much as it will change y'all's. I felt like my thought process going into the postseason this year was I felt like maybe I've underperformed in some of the postseasons in the past. I think of years like '22 and '23 where I had a lead at this tournament and wasn't able to win the FedExCup or a playoff event those years.

To come in this year maybe not winning the tournaments that I could have won throughout the regular season, to come in and win 2 out of 3 playoff events is definitely a nice way to finish off the season.

That was definitely my motto going into the playoffs. Maybe in years I've underperformed in the postseason, and maybe this is a year I'll perform better in the postseason than I have in the regular season.

Q. Just wondering why you kind of stumbled out of the gate a little bit and made things close right away. Were you scoreboard watching at all? At what point did you know how back and forth it really was?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: The start was really challenging. 1 and 2 playing into the wind, No. 1 is an extremely difficult starting hole, especially that pin location. For me to get out of there with a par, I felt like I got half a shot there. And then to birdie the second hole, I felt like a got another full shot there. I felt like I could move in pretty quickly if I got off to a good start today. And that was the case.

It's more challenging not being in control of the tournament. To get off to a good start and then those guys getting off to a bit of a slow start really put me right in the tournament early.

Q. You described out there to Amanda that this year kind of felt like a battle. Could you just elaborate a little bit on that and what it looks like to be pushing that hard behind the scenes for you as world No. 1.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think it's not necessarily this season. I think just playing tournament golf, I think is a battle as a whole. I think that's part of why I love it too. I get to play against the course, myself. You have to learn how to handle your emotions, handle pressure, not take days off. That's something I'm very proud of.

I feel like I hold myself to a high standard, which I think sometimes can be good and bad. I feel like at times I probably could be a bit of a pain to be around when things aren't going the way they should. I don't feel like I take days off. I'm highly competitive, and I'm very proud of being able to have the consistent results I've had over the years.

I feel like it's something that's very difficult to do, and it's something that I'm very proud of. I don't take tournaments off. I don't take days off during tournaments. I try to give it my all each and every day. I feel like it's a gift to play out here on the PGA TOUR, and don't want to take it for granted.

I don't want to look back at the end of my career and feel like I could have done more in order to play well. I want to be able to tell myself when I hang it up that I did everything I could. I feel like years like this kind of show that to myself, how important that is. Yeah, I don't know how to elaborate beyond that.

Q. Along those same lines, you had some results that you didn't want earlier. Obviously you finished strong. What lingers longer for you, the highs of winning or the pain of coming close and falling short?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I feel like I'm always just trying to figure things out. I feel like even after winning this week, I went on that long, long deal at The Open a couple years ago, and I'm kind of back there again. Part of what's great about golf and part of what's very frustrating about golf is it's kind of an endless puzzle you're always trying to solve.

I'm sitting here and I'm excited to get rest for a few days, but then I'm excited to get back and start working again. I feel like in order to become good at this game, you have to really enjoy the harder parts of it, the stuff that's a little bit more mundane.

Whether it be working on my endurance in the bike in the gym or working out when I don't want to or going out to the course and practicing the things that can be a little more tedious that other guys may not, I feel like late on Sundays stuff like that has a tendency to show up. I'm very proud -- like I said, I want to be able to tell myself that I did everything I could in order to play well.

Sitting here today, I feel like that's the case, and going forward throughout my career, I hope that that always continues to be the case. I take a lot of pride in that.

Q. What's your least favorite of the mundane?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It's probably like the first 10 minutes of the bike ride every time. It's really boring, just indoor bike.

Q. You don't have AirPods?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I do, but you're just sitting there. I've almost considered doing it outside instead, but inside, it's easy.

Q. I wanted to ask you about the 5-iron on 2. Can a swing -- not so much just the score, where the shot ended up, can a swing like that do anything for you for the rest of the round when it comes that early?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Well, that hole into that pin specifically, you have that big swale in front of it. You're standing on the tee box, and you don't really know where your golf ball is. The practice round, they put the pin in that swale, and I actually hit a very similar shot to what I did today, and it landed on the downslope and ended up over the green.

Today all you could do is execute the shot and see what happens after that. I executed the shot the way I wanted to, and it was fortunate, you see the crowd making some noise up there, you know the ball is going to be in a pretty good spot.

I would say it definitely gives me confidence going forward to execute a shot the way you want to, especially early in the round. I hit it a little right off the first tee, and then you've got to hack one out of the rough. Hit a really nice pitch, and so to stuff one in there on the 2nd hole the way I did on a difficult par-3 is really important, kind of giving momentum to the rest of the round.

Q. Wondering, you said just a little earlier, take pride in the consistency, I'm wondering are you able to find that pride like immediately after the fact? Like when you went on your run of three straight runner-ups, like that takes a while to kind of remove yourself and --

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I just think it's something that golf is a difficult game. It's really difficult to win out here. I feel like, when I'm close, it can be almost even more frustrating. Finishing second is challenging. The feeling that I have right now is a lot different than the feeling I have hopping in a car again, getting ready to leave, finishing second. It hurts a lot more than winning.

Q. When does that come then? Like the feeling of feeling good about the consistency if you don't recognize it immediately.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I don't know exactly. I feel like when you look over the course of the season, you see the body of the work and the results, I think that -- I always trust my feel when it comes to things. I feel like at times this year I could have been a little bit better. I could have been a little bit sharper. When you look back at the results, I think sometimes taking more of a macro view can be a little bit more helpful. When you're in the middle of finishing second three times, you're kind of like, all right, man, let's get off this.

Q. I'm not expecting a great answer here, to be honest, but the difference between your two FedExCup wins, is there one? This is the first time you've ever shot the lowest score at East Lake.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I mean --

Q. Not to be Mr. Negative here.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I know what you're saying, and that's even something that bugs me to this day is because I was playing with Collin, and when you're sitting on a six-shot lead with a few holes left, things change. Like some lines change, some shots change. It's a lot different when you're coming down the stretch of a tournament and you're tied or one shot back. I think Collin ended up maybe beating me by one shot that week.

To this day, I feel like, whatever it was, when you're coming down the stretch of a tournament and you're tied or one shot back, it's different than when you're adding it up at the end and there's starting strokes and all that stuff.

I'm glad we changed the format. Do I think it's perfect by any means? No. But I think having a real tournament to finish the year where I am the winner and the lowest score at East Lake feels like a bit more of an accomplishment than being like, well, it's kind of a silly format. He didn't win, but he won. I also played with a lead that year for like six months. No matter how far ahead you are in the FedExCup, you only got two strokes.

That year for me, I had a disappointing 2022, and then to come into '24 the way I did -- disappointing '22 and '23. To play with the lead in a golf tournament is hard enough, and to play with the lead in a golf tournament for essentially six months is even more challenging.

To show up at East Lake on a golf course that I struggled on and win in '24 was really special. But, yeah, it still bugs me a little bit that it's like, well, it's the first time you had the lowest score. And it's like, well, it's kind of apples and oranges.

Q. Concentrating on the apple. What was your thinking coming down 18 in terms of your position in the tournament? Were you paying attention? What did you feel like you needed to do?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I was trying to make birdie on 18 basically up until the putt. I hit it barely in the right rough, and it was a shot I maybe could have gotten over the hazard, but in my practice round I actually hit the ball basically in the same spot, and Teddy and I were like, oh, let's just try it out now. I tried to hit 5-wood out, and I hit it in the water.

That's the absolute last thing I wanted to do. I wanted to give myself a chance to make birdie but make par at the worst. Missing on the right side there is challenging, but missing in the right rough -- hit a really good layup. The layup is actually a really hard shot. Hit a good layup to get there in the fairway and really great wedge shot.

It was a hard wedge shot, hanging lie, left pin. I'm taking some off of a wedge pretty much straight into the wind. It was probably a harder shot than it looked like on TV. Hit it the way I wanted to, gave myself a look, and as I was reading my putt, I saw that Viktor had bogeyed 17. Made my putt a little bit more defensive than I think it would have been if he had parred 17 or even birdied 17.

Three shots on 18 is a lot different than two. Eagle is pretty possible on that hole. Double eagle would be pretty crazy. Has that been done? Okay, good.

Q. Something a little lighter. Post-championship dinner, what are you craving? You're in Atlanta? Maybe some lemon pepper wings. What are you thinking?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Gosh, I don't know. Probably a cheeseburger. I'm a big cheeseburger guy. Cheeseburger, fries, maybe a milkshake if they've got one hiding back there.

I had a beer for the first time in a long time. It just sounded good. Right when we got off the course, I got in there, these guys are trying to get me to do media and all this stuff. I was like how much time do we really have? They're like we've got a couple minutes. All right, let me go inside and get some air conditioning. There was an open bar inside, and I'm like, all right, I'm grabbing a beer. It tasted great.

I don't really drink very often. My wife and my manager were like, wow, I haven't seen you have a beer in a long time. Well, season's over now. I'm going to have a beer. Well-earned beer.

THE MODERATOR: Scottie Scheffler, congratulations. 2026 FedExCup champion.