Scottie Scheffler has overtaken Rory McIlroy on the PGA Tour's all-time earnings list after his victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Sunday. The win in Memphis, the first of three FedEx Cup play-off events, earned Scheffler a £2.7million winner's cheque, pushing his career earnings to £88.7m.
Historic milestone in Memphis
McIlroy, who finished 66th and collected £31,000, now has £86m in career PGA Tour earnings. Scheffler's total is almost precisely one St. Jude grand prize ahead of his rival.
The Texan is now closing in on Tiger Woods' all-time record of £89.4m. Another £750,000 or so in prize money would see Scheffler overtake Woods, who has topped the list for several decades.
Third-youngest to 21 wins
Scheffler's victory also made him the third-youngest player to reach 21 PGA Tour wins at 30 years of age, trailing only Woods and Jack Nicklaus.
His next chance to add to his earnings comes at the BMW Championship in Missouri, which starts Thursday. Scheffler returns as reigning champion, aiming to become just the second back-to-back BMW winner.
McIlroy's summer struggles
McIlroy, meanwhile, has struggled for form this summer. He tied for seventh at the Scottish Open in early July, then tied for 40th at The Open, followed by a disappointing weekend at the St. Jude Championship. The 37-year-old won his only BMW Championship title in 2012 at Crooked Stick in Indiana.
After his landmark win, Scheffler said: "It's not easy to win out here. I felt like the year that I've had kind of shows how difficult it is. We have a lot of talented guys, and I played some really solid golf over the course of this year but I hadn't played much great golf. I have had my close calls and lost a couple play-offs. It was nice coming into a day during which I had the lead and was able to hold that lead and really kind of build on it as the round went on."
