Sunday, September 1, 2024
"The Scottie Scheffler Charity Golf Championship," more commonly known as the Tour Championship, winds up today at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, and unless Scottie slips into the lake, the PGA Tour will hand him a gift of $25 million.
Not that Scottie needs a handout, he's already earned $29 million in the season that is about to end, which has lifted his career total to nearly $72 million. So the $25 million gift, added to his career bank account, will put him at $97 million or so, and as long as LIV continues to buck the tour, he's a cinch to pass Tiger's record of $120 million in the near future. It ain't right.
When the gurus of golf in the PGA office decided to make a handicap event of the Tour Championship (and give Scottie 10 birdies extra before the event even began Thursday), it greatly lessened the interest of golf's millions of fans for the tour's finale.
Scottie birdied four of the last five holes Saturday and is 16 under par going into today's 18. Add the 10-stroke gift from the tour and he's 26 under. Collin Morikawa is 21 under and realistically the only one with a shot to upset the leader. Sahith Theegala is next at 17 under and he'll be trying to catch Morikawa in search of the $12.5 million second prize. But he'll also be trying to hold off Xander Schauffele for third; Xander's 16 under and $7.5 million isn't a bad payday.
Gator Billy Horschel is 28th in the final field of 30 at 1 under, but he's not starving, either. Billy's earned $5 million this season, and $40.2 million since he left Gainesville.
What should have been a great finish to the PGA season has turned into a ho-hum, and I'll tune in once in a while between innings of the Yankees game. Unless Morikawa makes a couple of early eagles.
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