Scottie Scheffler terrorizes Memphis, Rory McIlroy completely mails it in, and Jordan Spieth is done
It turns out Scottie Scheffler still remembers how to win a golf tournament. The No. 1 player in the world did No. 1 player in the world things in Memphis to not only pick up his first win since January, but also lapped the field to the tune of an eight-shot victory. It was the first 'boring' Sunday we've had on the PGA Tour in quite some time, which is the easiest tell that Scheffler was operating at a different level than everyone else.
Rory McIlroy was also in Memphis. He didn't want to be there and made that widely known before Thursday's opening round, yet the mailing it in we saw from the six-time major champion was embarrassing. Yes, future Hall of Famers have bad weeks, but posting 8-over and finishing 25 shots behind the winner deserves criticism.
Meanwhile, Jordan Spieth's season is done. He sure made things fun on Thursday at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, but his inconsistencies this season finally caught up to him ahead of the penultimate event on the calendar.
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We humans are reactive, and we also love building narratives, but the one many built about Scottie Scheffler in 2026 will be looked at as perhaps one of the most forced of the modern era.
For months now, the question of 'What's wrong with Scottie?' has been asked – sometimes legitimately and sometimes tongue-in-cheek – given that his ball-striking took a dip statistically and it felt as if he was allergic to finding the winner's circle.
In the grand scheme of things, we lost the very simple plot along the way that winning golf tournaments is hard, even for the best player on Earth.
With how easy Scheffler made things look in Memphis, however, the golf world as a whole needs to agree to kill the narrative that something is wrong Scottie. Yes, it's just his second win in 2026, but it was by eight shots in a FedEx Cup Playoff event, and when you couple it with his season resume, he's doing far more right than wrong.
Entering the week, Scheffler had his AmEx victory in January, five second-place finishes, two third-place finishes, and a total of 11 Top 10s in 17 starts. While expectations are rightfully as high as possible, and without winning a major in 2026, the knee-jerk reaction of calling it a disappointing campaign is only natural (and maybe even a little fair), but his FedEx St. Jude Championship victory kills the narrative of something being wrong.
Scheffler began Sunday's final round in Memphis with a two-shot advantage, and while there was hope for a fun battle between him and Burns in the final pairing, things turned into a snooze after just a handful of holes. Outside of a bogey on the Par 5 third hole, it was clinical from Scheffler on Sunday. Simply one of those days where a 'bad swing' resulted in him missing his target by a few feet.
One blemish on Scheffler's Sunday scorecard to go along with five birdies while finishing the week leading the field in strokes gained: putting. That last statistic is a horrifying one for every player hoping to win the FedEx Cup in two weeks' time.
Rory McIlroy was not the only player who teed it up at TPC Southwind who wanted to be anywhere but Memphis in mid-August, competing in 100-degree heat. Rory McIlroy is, however, seen by most as the face of the PGA Tour, and playing in the PGA Tour's three playoff events to close out the year seems like something someone in that position should show an ounce of excitement for, but that wasn't the case for McIlroy.
It was assumed that McIlroy was going to skip out on Memphis, which he could easily afford to do both financially and from a FedEx Cup points perspective, yet he was a late addition to the field. Upon his arrival, he spoke of the "importance" of being there, which is a complete change in tune from the man who didn't bother teeing it up in the event last season.
"So this is a good week -- obviously I want to play well, but it's also a good week to just see where my game is, do a lot of practice, or as much as I can in the heat," McIlroy told the media prior to the first round on Thursday.
"Yeah, I think it's important to be here. It's the TOUR's playoffs, and I think it's important for all the players to be here. I've had some good conversations with Brian Rolapp over the last couple weeks. Yeah, I think it's important for me to be here and show support and looking forward to teeing it up."
It was suddenly important for McIlroy to play in the first playoff event after some "good conversations" with the PGA Tour CEO? Got it.
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Obviously, Rolapp got to McIlroy, which is a nice win for Rolapp and the Tour, but there is also the fact that he basically admitted this was going to be more or less a practice week for him, and he was not lying.
McIlroy beat just two players in the 69-man field and did not post a round under par across four days as a player who was very much going through the motions at a track he wanted no part of. It's worth noting, too, that he has three Top 7 finishes at TPC Southwind in his career, so it's not like this is a place he's had zero success at, but one he wanted to treat as a warm-up for the final two playoff events.
"Obviously didn't come in here with a ton of reps, almost felt like the more the week went on, the more I felt lost with my golf swing a little bit," McIlroy said following Sunday's final round. I figured it out a little bit the last few holes today, I think. Yeah, I just sort of -- yeah, swing wasn't in sync and obviously didn't do a ton of practice coming in here.
"I guess nice to shake the rust off a little bit, but I'm going to have to work pretty hard between now and next Thursday to feel like I have any sort of golf game to compete next week."
You can respect the honesty from McIlroy, but his admission of not practicing prior to the tournament and finishing 25 shots behind the winner isn't necessarily the ringing endorsement for the Tour or the fans in Memphis.
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Sidenote: McIlroy has only made eight non-major starts this season, which is not enough to qualify him to have an official stat profile with the Tour in 2026.
Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do. That's a sentence I tell my toddler a few times a day, and it applies here, too.
Man, that was a fun Thursday.
Jordan Spieth fired a 65 in the opening round of the FedEx St. Jude to grab a share of the lead. The round included wayward tee shots, a port-a-potty appearance, and over 122 feet of putts made. It only turned out to be a tease, however, as he ultimately finished T-19, which put him 52nd in the FedEx Cup standings to miss out on the BMW Championship.
Spieth was the only player of the 70 who qualified for the FedEx St. Jude without a single Top 10 finish on the year. It was always bound to catch up to him, but at least he gave us a day of hope on Thursday before having the final two weeks of the season decided for him.
It's been over four years since Spieth's last win on the PGA Tour, and 11 years since he hoisted the FedEx Cup. If that doesn't make you feel old, I'm not sure what can.