Scottie Scheffler won one tournament all regular season and still walked out of East Lake with the FedExCup, the money title, and Tiger's career earnings record. He celebrated with a beer, which for him basically counts as a bender.
IN THIS ISSUE
One Regular-Season Win. Then He Took the Whole Thing.
Leona Maguire Found It Ten Days Before Solheim
Scheffler Won With a Seven-Year-Old Shaft
Roger Cleveland Returned to Cleveland and Brought the 588 With Him
Ryan Gerard Finished Third at the Tour Championship
Intown Golf Club Opened at North Hills
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PGA TOUR . TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
One Regular-Season Win. Then He Took the Whole Thing.
Through 17 starts Scheffler had one win, five runner-ups and a legitimate Player of the Year problem, because Wyndham Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick and Chris Gotterup were all stacking trophies. Then he won twice in three playoff weeks, including a three-shot win at East Lake after starting Sunday three back of Viktor Hovland.
His 66 was the only under-par round in the last two groups. The $10 million check also pushed him past Tiger Woods on the career money list at $130,390,661, a record Woods held for 26 years while never once playing for a purse this size. Adjust for that however you like. The 22 wins in five years don't need adjusting.
"It wasn't like anybody else really played all that great in contention, and that's what you see, a lot of guys just gagging and throwing up. And that's where he just kind of stays in it."
Twenty-six years of Tiger holding the money list. Gone on a Sunday in Atlanta.
LET . KPMG WOMEN'S IRISH OPEN
Leona Maguire Found It Ten Days Before Solheim
Casandra Alexander won the Irish Open wire-to-wire at 20 under, breaking through after five runner-up finishes this season and opening with a course-record 63 at The K Club. But the result that matters for September was five shots back.
Leona Maguire, a captain's pick who'd missed the cut in four of five majors this year, shot a bogey-free 63 Saturday and finished fourth on home soil. Her Solheim record is 8-3-1 across three appearances. Anna Nordqvist needed that pick to look smart by now, and it does.
Solheim Cup, Bernardus Golf, September 10-13. Europe is chasing.
ALSO THIS WEEK
Justin Rose Dunked One at East Lake Rose made a slam-dunk ace on the par-3 ninth in the final round and still finished nine back at 7 under.
LOOKING AHEAD
Biltmore Championship at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove
The Tour's next stop is the Biltmore Championship at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove in Asheville, September 17-20. It's a rare North Carolina week on the schedule and a course that's private the other 51 weeks of the year. Mountain golf in mid September, with a field full of guys playing for next year's status.
Scheffler Won With a Seven-Year-Old Shaft
The winning bag from East Lake is a lesson in not chasing. TaylorMade Qi4D at 7.8 degrees actual loft, but the shaft is a 2019-model Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, the wedges are Vokey SM8s and an SM9, and the ball is the 2021 Pro V1. An aftermarket Ventus Black runs about $350 on its own, and none of his weighting is off the shelf. The best player alive changes his equipment almost never. Worth thinking about before you buy your third driver in three years.
Roger Cleveland Returned to Cleveland and Brought the 588 With Him
He hasn't worked for the company with his name on it in almost 30 years. The real news in the RTZ 2 wedge line isn't the alloy or the hosel weighting, it's the return of the 588 grind, the sole shape that made Cleveland the default wedge purchase for a generation. Five grinds, 46 to 64 degrees, three finishes including a raw. If you're a shallow sweeper who has never gotten along with modern high-bounce soles, the 588 is the one to demo. Cleveland hasn't posted U.S. pricing; the line it replaces sits around $170 a wedge, so plan on that.
ALSO THIS WEEK
GTS3 vs. Qi4D, If You're Shopping The short version of the head-to-head: GTS3 for lower spin and a classic look with a harsher mishit feel, Qi4D for speed and forgiveness, which is most of us.
Ryan Gerard Finished Third at the Tour Championship
Gerard started Sunday one behind Hovland, opened with a double bogey and never got back to the top, but a 72 still left him third at 12 under in his Tour Championship debut. Ahead of McIlroy, Åberg, Gotterup and Henley. For a Raleigh product and UNC guy in his first trip to East Lake, that's the best week a North Carolinian has had on this stage in a long time.
Intown Golf Club Opened at North Hills
The private indoor golf club officially opened in building five of Kane Realty's North Hills development, the brand's seventh location nationally. It's simulator bays plus a full clubhouse-style bar and dining setup, membership-based rather than pay-per-hour. If you've got a winter group and you're tired of booking bays one at a time, this is a different model showing up in Raleigh. Worth a tour before you commit to a dues number.
Pinehurst No. 9 Is Back Open After the Full Renovation
Greens, bunkers and irrigation are done and No. 9 has reopened with a new logo to go with it. It's the Nicklaus track out on the resort's southern edge, and it has always been the course people skip because they're chasing No. 2 and No. 4. Fresh greens change that math for a fall trip. Book it while the rates are still shoulder-season.
UNC's Schedule Has Two Local Dates Worth Marking
The Tar Heels released the 2026-27 schedule (pdf download) and two stops are drivable. They host the Williams Cup at Eagle Point in Wilmington October 18-20 with a 14-team field including NC State, Oklahoma and Florida, then the Tar Heel Intercollegiate at UNC Finley April 10-11. Roster note: Pinecrest product Carson Bertagnole is back after an All-ACC freshman year, and Broughton's Preston Hage is a freshman.
ALSO THIS WEEK
Carolinas PGA Calendar Restarts Sept. 14th The section schedule picks back up this month if you're chasing pro-ams and fall section events.
Capital City Shootout, October 2 Not golf but close enough for a team outing: the clay shoot at Drake Landing benefits Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Triangle and spots are filling.
TWO WAYS TO KEEP THIS GOING
Show up to a new course already knowing the move.
The next time a buddy picks a Triangle course you have never played, you will know which tees to play, where the trouble is, and what the locals actually pay before you leave the parking lot. That is the Triangle Golf Guide: 23 courses deep, plus the curated sim spots and the membership math worth knowing. Less than a range bucket, at $5.99.
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That's your read this week.
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