Tiger Woods Sends Rare Personal Message to Scottie Scheffler After Historic FedEx Cup Win
Scottie Scheffler had already run away from the field at East Lake. On Sunday he ran past Tiger Woods too.
Scheffler won his second FedEx Cup, closed out the Tour Championship by three shots over Viktor Hovland, and pocketed the $10 million bonus that pushed him past Woods’ PGA Tour career earnings record. That mark had stood since February 2000. Twenty-six years, gone in one weekend.
Then Tiger did something he almost never does. He posted.
“Three wins, five runner-ups and finishing the season No. 1. Those are some numbers to be proud of. Incredible consistency all season long. Congrats on a historic season, Scottie.”
Coming from Woods, that is the equivalent of a passed torch. He does not offer public praise for other players. When he does, it means the guy he is talking about is operating at a level he respects.
Scheffler earned it. His birdie on the fourth hole caught Hovland. His run around the turn buried him. His finish sealed a season that included three wins, five runner-ups, and a No. 1 ranking he never really let go of.
The prize money conversation is worth pausing on. Woods held the earnings record while playing in far fewer events than most modern pros, in an era with smaller purses than today’s inflated schedule. Scheffler passing it is a testament to his consistency, but it is also a product of how much more the PGA Tour pays out in 2026 than it did during Tiger’s peak.
None of that takes anything away from what Scheffler is doing. He wins whenever he plays well. He wins even when he plays average. His 2026 season already ranks among the best five-year stretches in modern golf, and he is not slowing down.
What comes next is the interesting part. Woods handed him the earnings crown. The scoring average crown is his. The world No. 1 ranking is his. The FedEx Cup is his.
The only thing missing is the pile of majors. Scheffler has three. Tiger has 15. That is the gap that matters if the goal is to actually chase Woods rather than pass a dollar figure.
Given the way Scheffler is playing, and the way his peers are not, that chase is officially on. And Tiger himself just acknowledged it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
