Many highs, but some unsettling lows as we look at 8 huge stories from the 2024 PGA Tour season

An arrest. A missed short putt on the 72nd hole of a major. An amateur victory. They were all among the storylines for the 2024 PGA Tour season, a season that ended at the RSM Classic, the last of 43 official events for the year. Each season has its …

An arrest. A missed short putt on the 72nd hole of a major. An amateur victory.

They were all among the storylines for the 2024 PGA Tour season, a season that ended at the RSM Classic, the last of 43 official events for the year.

Each season has its own character, and 2024 seemed to be a year of redemption and heartbreak at the same time. Here’s a look at eight of the big stories from this past year on the PGA Tour:

Scottie Scheffler’s season

Scheffler solidified his spot as the No. 1 player in the world with seven victories including the Masters, the Players Championship and the Tour Championship while adding the Olympic gold medal in Paris for good measure. It was a massive and historic year for Scheffler. Especially when you consider …

Scottie Scheffler smiles while waiting to tee off on the fourth hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Valhalla Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Matt Stone-USA TODAY Sports

Scottie Scheffler’s arrest

In many ways, this is the No. 1 story of the year. Before the second round of the PGA Championship against the backdrop of a fatal pedestrian vs. car accident on the access road to Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky, Scheffler made a left-hand turn that ended up with him being arrested, taken to a police station and booked before being released, returning to the course and shooting 66. The story played out for a few weeks before charges were dropped.

Nick Dunlap’s win

No amateur had won on the PGA Tour in 33 years, but Dunlap, a sponsor’s exemption to The American Express, played brilliant golf including shooting a 60 in the third round to win what turned out to be his last event as an amateur. Toss in a win later in the year at the Barracuda Championship, and Dunlap is the first golfer to win on tour as an amateur and as a pro in the same year.

Bryson DeChambeau of the United States reacts on the 18th hole after finishing the third round of the 124th U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort on June 15, 2024, in Pinehurst, North Carolina. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

The U.S. Open

Just when it looked like Rory McIlroy would end his 10-year major drought, a roller-coaster back nine saw him secure the win, then give it away with three bogeys in his last four holes, including two missed short putts on 16 and 18. Bryson DeChambeau tried to give the tournament away on the 18th as well, but managed a great up and down from a greenside bunker for a one-shot win and heartbreak for McIlroy fans.

No deal, still

The year started with Jon Rahm jumping from the PGA Tour to the LIV Tour and lots of talk about how a deal could be struck between the two rival leagues by the Masters. Instead, there remains a divide in the game, the PGA Tour has answered hardly any questions about negotiations while LIV is seeing the Public Investment Fund that backs the golf league pledging to cut its spending in coming years. Meanwhile, the LIV Tour can’t get any traction in television ratings. And the fans are still a secondary thought.

Grayson Murray walks the fairway from the 1st tee during the third round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. (Photo: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports)

Grayson Murray

From celebration to tragedy. Murray’s win at the Sony Open in January was a victory for overcoming substance abuse and mental health issues. But by May, Murray walked off the course at the Charles Schwab Challenge before the round was over and flew home to Florida. The next day it was confirmed that Murray had committed suicide.

Xander’s majors

For a few years, the question was when Xander Schauffele would break through and win a major after so many near misses. Then came the PGA Championship in Kentucky, where Schueffele held off a charging Bryson DeChambeau to get that first win. Just two months later, Schauffele crashed through the major barrier again, this time winning the British Open. It could be he’s in for more majors in the coming years.

Tiger’s rugged year

The greatest player of his generation continued to be an afterthought on the tour for another year. Woods only started in five events. His best finish was 60th in the Masters, and he missed the cut in the last three majors of the year and withdrew from the Genesis Invitational that he hosts. It all fueled more talk that Woods should maybe just hang up his clubs.

These three PGA Tour stars have been nominated for the 2024 Jack Nicklaus Award (Player of the Year)

The nominations were announced on Monday after the 2024 season’s conclusion at the RSM Classic.

A testament to just how consistent Rory McIlroy has been over the last decade — in a season where he said he’d give himself a B grade, the Northern Irishman was still one of the nominees for the PGA Tour’s Jack Nicklaus Award, which is given to the circuit’s player of the year.

The nominations were announced Monday after the 2024 season’s conclusion at the RSM Classic.

“It would be a pass, it wouldn’t be a pass with flying colors,” McIlroy had said of his year during the DP World Tour Championship earlier this month. “But, um, probably a B.”

The voting is currently open for the award, and all Tour players with at least 15 starts in 2024 are eligible to weigh in. Voting closes on Dec. 4 and the winner will be announced just before the year’s end.

Also in the running for the award are Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele. Last year, Scheffler won the Nicklaus Award for a second straight time, becoming the first player to win Player of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons since Tiger Woods won it three straight years from 2005-2007 and 11 times overall. Scheffler said that PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan called him to tell him that he had won the award and that he was one of less than a handful of back-to-back winners.

“So I looked to see how many times Tiger won it and there was years from like 2000 to 2008 where he won it almost every year. I think Vijay clipped it one year and that was it. So he’s got some pretty absurd stats like that,” Scheffler said. “Anytime you can be mentioned in the same breath with Tiger it’s very special. I grew up idolizing him as a player, and any time you can get mentioned with him is very special.”

Back in August, after Schauffele ripped off wins at the PGA Championship and the British Open, Justin Thomas said he was prone to choose Schauffele, due to the major hardware. That was before Scheffler won the FedEx Cup, however.

“For me, personally,” Thomas said in August, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I would take Xander’s just because of two majors. But yeah, talk about a no-lose situation, those are two pretty good ones.”

Here’s a look at each of the three nominees and their accomplishments this season, per the PGA Tour:

Rory McIlroy, 35

Rory McIlroy walks to the sixth green during the final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Katie Goodale-USA TODAY Sports

Entered 19 events with wins (2) at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and Truist Championship
Finished No. 9 in the FedEx Cup
Finished sixth in scoring average (69.914)
Recorded a total of seven top-10s and missed one cut

Scottie Scheffler, 28

Scottie Scheffler celebrates winning the 2024 Tour Championship. (John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)

Entered 19 events with wins (7) at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, The Players Championship, Masters Tournament (second career major championship title), RBC Heritage, the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, Travelers Championship and Tour Championship
Winner of the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Winner of the 2024 FedEx Cup
Winner of the Byron Nelson Award for low scoring average (68.645)
Recorded a Tour-best 16 top-10s and did not miss a cut

Xander Schauffele, 31

2024 British Open — Xander Schauffele kisses the Claret Jug on the 18th green in celebration of victory at the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon. (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)

Entered 22 events with wins (2) at the PGA Championship (first career major championship title) and Open Championship
Finished No. 4 in the FedEx Cup
Finished second in scoring average (69.137)
Recorded a total of 15 top-10s and did not miss a cut

Why winning the Zozo Championship is extra meaningful to Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and native son Hideki Matsuyama

Schauffele said he hadn’t had a chance to show the silver jug to his grandparents yet.

Xander Schauffele flew to Japan for the Zozo Championship, the lone PGA Tour stop in the Land of the Rising Sun, with some extra carry-on baggage. He brought the Claret Jug awarded to him as the Champion Golfer of the Year in July. But it was a two-major season for Schauffele, who also won the PGA Championship in May.

During his pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday in Chiba, Japan, Schauffele was asked if bringing the British Open trophy he won at Royal Troon in Scotland meant it was his favorite.

“You can’t put it in a carry-on, I’ll say that much,” he explained of the PGA’s Wanamaker Trophy, which is big and bulky and checks in at 27 pounds. It measures 10 ½ inches in diameter and from handle to handle it’s 27 inches. “It would be a massive trunk.”

Zozo Championship: Thursday tee times

Schauffele, whose mother is of Taiwanese descent but grew up in Japan, said he hadn’t had a chance to show the silver jug to his grandparents yet because he and his wife had been too busy on an eating tour of Osaka and Kyoto after their early arrival.

“I was a tourist along Dotonbori there and in Kyoto, went to a couple shrines and enjoyed some onsen with my wife, so it was very, very relaxing,” he said. “First time for both and (the Zozo is) always one of my favorite stops of the year.”

Schauffele won the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but even before that triumph the home fans have treated him as one of their own. He’s making his sixth consecutive start at the Zozo and said the greens are running fast and if the wind blows and the rain stays away this could be the highest winning score posted at Accordia Golf’s Narashino Golf Club. (The winning score has ranged from 14 under to 19 under in four previous tournaments held at the course.)

Xander Schauffele smiles on the eighth green during the first round of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

Schauffele already has enjoyed the best season of his career, rising to second in the world and winning two majors, but he’d love to cap it off with a victory on what feels like home soil.

“It would be a cherry on top,” he said. “I have a lot of my family that will be out and my grandparents will be out. I don’t get to see them very often, so delivering the gold medal to them was really special during that COVID year. I think delivering another win in front of ’em and for ’em would be even more special.”

Collin Morikawa can tell Schauffele all about it. He experienced that rush of pride in securing victory in Japan after shooting a bogey-free final-round 63 to win the Zozo Championship last year.

“Being half-Japanese and looking back at that and just being able to connect with the people out here, it means the world,” Morikawa said. “When you’re able to just kind of touch on that little aspect a little bit more, sometimes it pulls a little bit more out of you.”

While Morikawa and Schauffele have ancestral roots that make winning in Japan more meaningful, Hideki Matsuyama carries the weight of a nation on his broad shoulders. In 2021, he pulled off a remarkable double – becoming the first Japanese player to win the Masters and then returning home with his Green Jacket to win the Zozo for the first time. Earlier this year, Matsuyama added trophies at the Genesis Invitational and the FedEx St. Jude Championship, giving him 10 Tour titles, the most of any male Asian golfer.

But this week hits a little differently for Matsuyama, who is treated like a rock star whenever he plays in Japan and acknowledged that he feels some added pressure.

“I don’t play often in Japan, but when I do, I look forward, really look forward to this event and hopefully I can play well,” he said.

Callaway Limited-Edition Apex TCB irons pay homage to Xander Schauffele

This set celebrates Xander Schauffele’s 2024 season.

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Gear: Callaway Limited-Edition Apex TCB Irons
Price: $1,505 (4-10 iron) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Mid 115 shafts and Golf Pride Z grips
Specs: Forged 1025 carbon steel with tungsten weight

Who It’s For:
Elite golfers who have a powerful, repeatable swing.

What You Should Know:
These irons are an homage to Xander Schauffele and blend Callaway’s updated 2024 Apex looks with shaping and a size designed to appeal to elite golfers.

The Deep Dive:
After golfers win major championships or accomplish something unique, brands often celebrate by creating social media posts, developing posters for pro shops, and sometimes offering replicas of players’ clubs.

That’s what Callaway is doing with the release of limited-edition Apex TCB irons. These clubs are nearly identical to the set Xander Schauffele used throughout 2024 and had in his bag when he won the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club and the British Open at Royal Troon.

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The Apex TCB irons debuted in 2021, and Schauffele has been playing them since that year. Jon Rahm used them to win the 2021 U.S. Open and 2023 Masters, and Sam Burns has been a TCB player for the last few seasons as well. However, the set Schauffele had in his bag this season is different from the clubs used by Rahm and Burns.

Apex TCB: Materials and Tech

Like their predecessors released in 2021, the 2024 limited-edition Apex TCB irons (TCB stands for tour cavity-back) are forged using 1025 carbon steel for a soft feel at impact. However, unlike the 2021 version, these clubs come with a raw steel finish. In addition to being anti-glare, the raw steel will rust and darken in tone over time and with exposure to water. Schauffele has been using raw steel irons for the past several seasons.

Aesthetically, the limited-edition Apex TCBs match the recently released Callaway Apex CB, Apex Ai200, and Apex Ai300. They feature a modest cavity-back design to boost perimeter weighting and provide a small amount of stability. A tungsten weight screwed into the back of each club helps lower the center of gravity while allowing fitters to easily change the swing weight of the Apex TCB based on the length and player preferences. However, the Apex TCB has a shorter blade length, thinner topline, and less offset than the other Apex irons.

Xander Schauffele's 10-iron — Xander Schauffele’s Callaway Apex TCB 10-Iron. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Callaway Apex TCB, 10-iron?

In another nod to the 2024 PGA Championship and British Open winner, the limited-edition Apex TCB irons will come standard as a set running from 4-iron to 10-iron. That’s not a typo. Instead of having a club marked as a pitching wedge, Schauffele has been using a 46-degree iron labeled “10 iron,” so that’s how the pitching wedge is labeled in this set.

These irons are clearly built for elite players, and Callaway is calling them limited editions, but they may be a peek at something the company intends to offer in 2025. Cosmetically, the limited-edition Apex TCB fits perfectly with the recently released Apex irons (Apex CB, Apex Ai200, Apex Ai300). So, if Callaway wants to update a three-year-old better player’s iron, we could see something similar to these limited-edition irons next season, but they would almost certainly be released with a chrome finish.

Tom Kim found Xander Schauffele, Jim Furyk to clear the air on Sunday at 2024 Presidents Cup

“It was just outside the ropes, and I felt like that was a little misunderstanding on my part.”

One of the first things Tom Kim did after tying Sam Burns in his singles match Sunday at the 2024 Presidents Cup was seek out Xander Schauffele and U.S. captain Jim Furyk.

A day earlier, Kim accused members of the U.S. team of ‘cursing at us’ during their Saturday foursomes match, in which Kim and partner Si Woo Kim fell against Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.

“I think the start of the round was definitely a little harder, but as it got towards the end, it got a little feisty out there. I could hear some players cursing at us. That part wasn’t really — I don’t think there was good sportsmanship there. But it’s all part of the fun. I understand it,” was Kim’s response to a question Saturday after the matches ended.

Come Sunday, Kim and Burns went toe-to-toe, with Kim a little less demonstrative than he had been known to be in his two Presidents Cup appearances. It came down to the 18th, and Kim missed a winning birdie putt to halve the match.

Shortly after handshakes, Kim darted off the green to Fuyrk and Schauffele. He was asked about it Sunday night.

“Yeah, it was just about my comments yesterday. I just told him like, hey, I didn’t mean it to go in such a negative way. If it did, I just said I’m sorry. It was just I felt like what I heard yesterday, some comments that I’ve heard was at that time, just coming off the green, it came to me so personally and just I felt like it was right to share,” Kim said.

“Definitely, I didn’t really at that time, just didn’t think it would be so negative. I really didn’t mean to — because when I played with Patrick and Xander, obviously we’ve battled a few times and they’ve always been such great competitors. They’ve never — I’ve always felt like there’s such a good sportsmanship between us. It was just outside the ropes, and I felt like that was a little misunderstanding on my part, which I should have explained better.

“So I went to him and I said, ‘I didn’t mean it that way. I apologize if it came out wrongly. It was just this and this happened, but if it affected you guys so negatively, I really do apologize. I didn’t mean to do it in that way.’

“This event is all about doing things you would never do and creating energy and doing all these things. If I — I do certain things on the greens when I make putts, and I expect them to do the same thing. It’s all part of the game. It was just about that.”

The next question was about whether he wanted to approach a player and captain, and insisted he wanted to, trying to clear the air.

“I felt like it was right for me to go up and share the way — you know, what the meaning was coming from that comment.”

Schauffele was asked about the conversation Sunday night, too, and he declined to comment, saying if Kim wanted to talk more about the conversation, then he could.

And he did.

‘He’s an assassin:’ Patrick Cantlay does it again in near darkness to give U.S. 11-7 lead at 2024 Presidents Cup

“I can tell you one thing, I’m never going to play him in the dark or at night.”

MONTREAL – Patrick Cantlay is a menace late on Saturday afternoon in big international team competition.

One year after he gave the U.S. a glimmer of hope at the Ryder Cup in Rome with a clutch putt in the gloaming to beat Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick, Cantlay sank a 15-foot birdie putt at 18 at Royal Montreal to win an exhilarating match that gave the U.S. an 11-7 leading and may have broken the International Team’s spirit at the 2024 Presidents Cup. Teammate Sam Burns called him an assassin and Cantlay’s partner, Xander Schauffele echoed that sentiment.

“I think it’s pretty fitting, it being all dark and all,” he said. “I could barely see him out there. Reading the putt with him was pretty entertaining, using some light from the board. I can tell you one thing, I’m never going to play him in the dark or at night. I’ll just wait for the morning.”

Cantlay’s birdie sent the Americans circling the green into a frenzy and secured a 1-up win over South Korea’s Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim in a match that had everything: incredible putts, hole outs, theatrics bordering on unsportsmanlike behavior, pettiness and it all coming down to a putt off at 18. It was the type of match that no one deserved to lose but Patty Ice proved he has a little more ice in his veins.

“Man, did it feel good when P.C. made that putt there in the dark,” Schauffele said.

Presidents Cup: Leaderboard | Gala photos | Photos

https://twitter.com/PresidentsCup/status/1840173039717363778

This was a rematch of Saturday’s foursomes at the 2022 Presidents Cup in which the South Korean pair stole a full point and knocked off the seemingly invincible American team. Kim squared already had knocked off Americans Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark in morning four-ball when they were the top two putters of the session.

And they weren’t done making putts. In the afternoon, the Kims fell 2 down through six holes. It was at six where Cantlay refused to give a short putt to Kim, and when the hole was over he pantomimed measuring the length of his putt that he was forced to make. Ian Kim or should we say Tom Poulter – he certainly has a way of getting under the skin of his U.S. opponents much like Ian Poulter once did at the Ryder Cup – answered with a 37-foot birdie putt at the ninth and danced around the green with an array of fist pumps. His theatrics pumped up the crowd and he celebrated in similar fashion one hole later when Si Woo Kim sank a 15-foot birdie putt to even the match.

The back and forth affair also included ridiculous par saves at 11 with Si Woo Kim drilling a 19-footer and Cantlay answering from 16 feet. Every time the U.S. pulled ahead as it did with a win at 13, the Internationals bounced back with a win as it did at 14. Schauffele made his own bomb from 33 feet at 15 and the Americans celebrated with a restrained knuckles tap and Schauffele giving Cantlay a slap on the butt.

Kim’s approach at 16 missed right and plugged in the grass above the greenside bunker. Schauffele was the one who eventually found it during a mad search by players and caddies and the Internationals were granted a free drop.

“He got a great lie,” John Wood reported on NBC.

Still, Si Woo Kim was shortsided and anything inside 5 feet would be outstanding. Kim opened his sand wedge wide and lofted his ball high in the air. It landed softly and turned into the hole. As Sahith Theegala had dubbed it earlier in the week, a Mongolian Reversal of the highest order as instead of a good chance of falling 2 down with 2 to go, the match suddenly was tied once more.

“Hurt more than I thought it would,” Schauffele said. “Pat and I were sitting back there, we both have match play minds, and we both said Si Woo’s going to get this up-and-down, and then he holed it. Pat looked at me and said, ‘I guess 4 is not enough, we’re going to make some birdies.’ That’s exactly what P.C. did coming in.”

Did he ever.

“That was big,” U.S. Captain Jim Furyk said. “If you had to hand select someone to hit a big putt on your team, I think Pat would come to a lot of people’s minds.”

Cantlay’s 17-footer, aimed “a cup outside with some speed,” made sure the U.S. wouldn’t lose the final match. Si Woo Kim still had a chance to tie the hole but he finally flinched and missed a big putt from an inch closer than Cantlay.

This was the ninth career Presidents Cup match for Cantlay and Schuaffele together, the most in event history. They’ll likely play many more in the years to come but it will be hard to top this one when Patty Ice was Patty Clutch.

Scottie Scheffler or Xander Schauffele? Player of the Year race heats up as pros discuss the great debate

The Scheffler-Schauffele decision likely comes down to what you value more: majors or quantity of wins

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. – Justin Thomas has had the debate in a couple different group text chains that he’s on: Who’s year would you rather have, Xander Schauffele with the silver trophies of the PGA Championship and British Open on his mantle or Scottie Scheffler, who is sporting the Masters green jacket again and also claimed the Players Championship, a gold medal and four more signature events among his seven victories this season?

“It’s tough,” Thomas said. “I think it’s very situational of where you are in your career. For me personally, two majors sounds a lot cooler than one. But then again, winning six times, all of which being elevated events and Players and a gold medal sounds nice, too. Might be better to answer that question if something were to happen the next couple weeks.”

Indeed, it is tough and this week’s BMW Championship and the FedEx Cup, which will be determined next week at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, could still sway some opinions. But the Scheffler-Schauffele decision likely comes down to what you value more: majors or quantity of wins (and bundles of cash as Scheffler has banked $29M+ to Schauffele’s $17M+).

“For me, personally,” Thomas concluded, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I would take Xander’s just because of two majors. But yeah, talk about a no-lose situation, those are two pretty good ones.”

Majors are the currency that matters the most. To be a first-ballot Hall of Famer and receive golf’s highest honor, the major total is the biggest determining factor. Players with just one major such as Davis Love III and Fred Couples overcame their low total and even Colin Montgomerie got in without one due largely to his Ryder Cup record and dominance on the European Tour.

More: Scottie Scheffler vs. Xander Schauffele. Here’s how they matchup

“I’m definitely not knocking Scottie’s year because it’s tremendous, it’s phenomenal, I think he is the Player of the Year currently right now, even though Xander has won two majors,” Jason Day, a former world No. 1 and winner of the 2015 PGA Championship, said.

But.“I would probably go more towards the majors just because I want to add more majors to my career,” Day explained.

Scottie Scheffler's scenario to clinch No. 1 spot @TOURChamp in Starting Strokes format: solo fourth or better @BMWchamps @XSchauffele would assume No. 1 spot with a win IF Scheffler finishes no better than two-way T4.https://t.co/Lodgfxo4sZ

— Kevin Prise (@PGATOURKevin) August 20, 2024

Viktor Hovland is still seeking his first major but the Norwegian already is measuring a career by majors just as Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger Woods (15) did before him and set the bar high.

“Twenty years in the future, looking back at the year, I think I’d rather have won two majors, just personally,” Hovland said.

Billy Horschel, the 2014 FedEx Cup champion, took the easy way out.

“I’m going to be that guy and say I’ll take both of them because I don’t have a major. I don’t have a gold medal. I don’t have a Players Championship, so either one of them works for me,” he said.

But in a matter of a little over a week, he and the rest of the PGA Tour membership will have to determine who had the better year when voting opens for the Jack Nicklaus Award, the trophy awarded for the Tour’s Player of the Year as voted on by the players. So how will Horschel choose between this year’s two studs?

“I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t always voted for Player of the Year sometimes because I just think it’s too tough to make a decision,” he said. “Maybe that’s a bad thing and probably shouldn’t say that, but there’s a couple times I haven’t voted for Player of the Year because I couldn’t make a decision who I thought had the better season, so I just let it go.”

Gun to the head, Horschel said he’d side with Scheffler in part because he considers the Players a fifth major.

“I would say Scottie has had the better year, and Scottie would be my pick for Player of the Year,” Horschel said.

Scheffler said he typically votes for the award but in the last few years, knowing that he’s been in contention, he’s elected to sit it out.

“I think since I’m in the running I probably would just refrain from voting. I think it would be a bit weird to vote for myself,” Scheffler said.

Justin Thomas, who was waiting for Scheffler to finish his press conference so his own could begin, heard this and told Scheffler, “I will write myself in before I don’t vote for myself.”

FedEx St. Jude Championship feels like Scottie Scheffler vs. Xander Schauffele. Here’s how they matchup

Pro golf’s modern-day version of “Clash of the Titans” takes stage in Memphis this week.

Scottie Scheffler vs. Xander Schauffele.

Professional golf’s modern-day version of “Clash of the Titans” will premiere at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis this week. When play begins Thursday at TPC Southwind, it will feature 70 of the world’s best golfers, including greats like Rory McIlroy, winners of multiple majors like Collin Morikawa, and former champions in Memphis like Will Zalatoris and Justin Thomas.

But Scheffler and Schauffele have been transcendent this season. Scheffler is No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking and No. 1 in the FedEx Cup Playoff standings. Schauffele is No. 2 in both. Two weeks ago, Scheffler won the gold medal for the United States at the Paris Olympics. Three years ago, Schauffele scored the gold for the U.S. in Tokyo.

Three of golf’s four majors in 2024 were won by either Scheffler (the Masters — where Schauffele finished eighth — already the 28-year-old’s second green jacket) or Schauffele (PGA Championship, British Open — Scheffler had top-10 finishes at both). Bryson DeChambeau, who won’t be in Memphis this year because he has aligned himself with LIV Golf, won the other major (the U.S. Open). Schauffele tied for seventh there, while Scheffler tied for 41st.

How about The Players Championship (golf’s so-called fifth major) back in March? Scheffler won that, too. Schauffele tied for second, one stroke behind Scheffler.

Either Scheffler or Schauffele almost certainly will be the favorite to win the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Neither has been victorious in Memphis before. But they’ve had enough success here — and are having next-level success this season — to instill confidence in even the most hesitant bettor.

Schauffele has made seven starts at TPC Southwind. His best finish came in 2020, when he tied for sixth at the event, then known as the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Scheffler has played Memphis four times, finishing 14th in 2021 and tying for 15th in 2020.

2022 Tour Championship — Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele walk to the 15th green during the third round of the TOUR Championship. (Photo: Adam Hagy/USA TODAY Sports)

Scottie Scheffler-Xander Schauffele: tale of the tape

Age: 28 (Scheffler); 30 (Schauffele)
Height: 6-3 (Scheffler); 5-10 (Schauffele)
Weight: 200 (Scheffler); 175 (Schauffele)
Turned pro: 2018 (Scheffler); 2015 (Schauffele)
PGA Tour wins: 12 (Scheffler); 9 (Schauffele)
Runner-up finishes: 9 (Scheffler); 14 (Schauffele)

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.

While U.S. dominates Olympic golf medal table, Lydia Ko accounts for all 3 medals for New Zealand

Five nations have earned a gold medal in golf.

The 2024 Olympics golf competitions are in the books and the U.S. leaves Paris maintaining its big lead on the medal table.

Scottie Scheffler shot a final-round 62 in the men’s competition at Le Golf National to clinch the top prize by a shot over Great Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood, who won his nation’s second-ever silver medal. Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama won bronze, the second-ever medal in golf for his country.

Lydia Ko won gold in the women’s competition and has completed the trifecta, after winning silver in 2016 and bronze in 2021. She also accounts for all three of the medals New Zealand has won at the Olympics.

With Germany’s 2024 silver, courtesy of Esther Henseleit, there are now 11 nations that have earned a medal in the five renditions of golf in the Olympics. The first two times were 1900 and 1904, then there was a 112-year hiatus before returning in 2016.

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	6	3	5	14
2	Great Britain	1	2	1	4
3	New Zealand	1	1	1	3
T-4	Japan	0	1	1	2
T-4	China	0	0	2	2
T-6	Canada	1	0	0	1
T-6	South Korea	1	0	0	1
T-6	Germany	0	1	0	1
T-6	Slovakia	0	1	0	1
T-6	Sweden	0	1	0	1
T-6	Chinese Taipei	0	0	1	1

What means more to Xander Schauffele: his Olympic gold medal or major championship trophies?

Xander gets a chance to defend his gold medal.

Xander Schauffele has a different relationship with the Olympic Games than most other golfers in the field at Le Golf National this week.

X’s father, Stefan, was on the German decathlon team and an Olympic hopeful before a drunk driver struck his car, causing him a multitude of injuries and to lose sight in his left eye.

And while Stefan never got his chance to don a medal, Xander did, winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. This week, he is the defending champion and arguably the hottest golfer in the world, as 60 players from across the globe are in Paris at Le Golf National for the men’s golf Olympic competition. He comes to the games off a victory in the Open Championship two weeks ago in Scotland and has won two majors this year.

Justin Rose, the gold medal winner in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, isn’t in the field this week, so no one is able to answer the question quite like Xander on which means more, an Olympic gold or major trophy?

More: USA Today’s 2024 Olympics hub | How to watch | Full men’s field | Full women’s field

“It is a good question but it’s tricky,” Xander said. “Golf was in the Olympics and then it was out of the Olympics. So I think a lot of the kids were watching Tiger, or if you’re a little bit older, you’re watching Jack or Arnie, the older legends of the game. You’re watching them win majors. It’s kind of different.

“For me, it’s very personal, my relationship with my dad, the relationship my dad and I have with golf, a lot of is sort of surround his teachings of when he was trying to be an Olympian.

Xander Schauffele of Team United States looks on during a practice round ahead of the Men’s Individual Stroke Play on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Le Golf National on July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

“Then the majors are sort of what I grew up watching. They are two very different things to me. I think the gold medal, it’s been marinating nicely. Maybe in 30, 40 years, it’s something that’s really going to be special as it gets more traction and it kind of gets back into the eyes or into the normalcy of being in the Olympics.”

Xander said being able to share the medal with Stefan was one of the more intimate moments of his life in Tokyo. Being held with strict COVID-19 protocols, there were no fans and hardly any family members present, but Stefan was there to watch his son’s biggest victory to date. Xander’s added a couple more bullet points to his resume since, but the Olympics have a special place in his heart.

Olympics: Thursday tee times

“When you hear the anthem and you come off green and I’m able to sort of share the medal with him, it was kind of as cool as it gets for me, being something that I can deliver to him that he’s always wanted,” Xander said. “I think for starters, just being an Olympian is something he always wanted, so that was already a huge delivery just in that sense.”

This Olympics has plenty of differences for Xander. For one, athletes are able to attend other events and explore Paris, whereas in Tokyo, they were confined to hotel rooms.

Between the Open and Olympics, Xander said he and Collin Morikawa spent time with their wives in Portugal and played plenty of golf. To get familiar with Le Golf National, he has played 36 holes and is going to play nine more come Wednesday.

Then on Thursday, it’s time to defend his gold medal.

“Feels like a brand new tournament,” Xander said. “I think with the build and the anticipation of fans and I think just coming to and from the hotel, you just see people everywhere. So the feel of everything and willing I think you’re starting to get the real feel of a lot of what the Olympics is about.”