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Scottie Scheffler loses temper in Memphis heat, but still in the mix at FedEx St. Jude

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Scottie Scheffler is guaranteed to be atop the FedExCup points list after this week, putting him in good position for another $5 million bonus, and his performance this week and next won’t affect his standing entering the playoff finale at East Lake.

So, the world No. 1 should be feeling carefree at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, right?

Well …

Scheffler shot 4-under 66 Friday at TPC Southwind to finish at 7 under par, six back of leader Tommy Fleetwood. It was a decent score, but one with too many dropped shots that led to a few outbursts.

 

Scheffler had eight birdies and four bogeys in sweltering second round in Memphis, Tennessee. One of those bogeys came at the par-4 10th, where Scheffler hit his approach shot into the right greenside bunker. His escape raced past the pin and into the fringe, 16 feet from the hole. He slammed his wedge multiple times into the sand before two-putting.

As he often does, however, Scheffler responded with a birdie at the par-3 11th and made two more at Nos. 13 and 14. But then came a bogey-birdie-bogey sandwich at the 15th, 16th and 17th holes.

On the par-4 17th, Scheffler hit his tee shot right, immediately dropping his driver to the ground and then catching himself just before kicking it. Playing his approach shot from the rough, his ball shot left and into more rough around the green, to which an exasperated Scheffler said: “Can I get one lie that’s just not the worst lie ever? Just one! Just one!”

He continued his express his angst while walking away from the offending lie.

The scene was reminiscent of last year’s playoffs when Scheffler had a mini meltdown at the BMW Championship in Colorado.

Scheffler, a two-time major champion this year and the defending FedExCup champion, bogeyed the 17th and parred the 18th.

 

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Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper to play qualifiers in opening round at Flushing Meadows

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The draw is set for the US Open with Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper meeting qualifiers in the opening round at Flushing Meadows; the US Open is live on Sky Sports Tennis and Sky Sports+, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app from August 24

British stars Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper will both play qualifiers in their opening matches at this year’s US Open.

Raducanu, who could face former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the third round, will be first on Louis Armstrong Stadium as the tournament begins on Sunday, live on Sky Sports from 4pm.

Draper appears set to start his campaign on Monday as he looks to build on the success he enjoyed at Flushing Meadows last year. But he could meet defending champion Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals if both win through.

Both Raducanu and Draper must await the completion of the qualifying tournament on Friday evening before learning the identity of their first-round opponents.

Back at the top of the British rankings, Raducanu is playing probably some of her best tennis since her remarkable US Open triumph in 2021 – although that bar is lower after a turbulent few years due to injury.

Her informal coaching arrangement with Mark Petchey appeared to be working, with the 22-year-old enjoying a run to the semi-finals of the Washington Open, but she has now brought in Rafael Nadal’s former coach Francis Roig ahead of the Grand Slam in New York.

Spanish coach Roig worked alongside Nadal and with Nadal’s uncle Toni for the majority of his career, where he won 22 Grand Slam titles.

The other British women have been handed tough draws, with Katie Boulter taking on 27th seed Marta Kostyuk and Sonay Kartal meeting 11th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Draper warmed up for the singles tournament reaching the mixed doubles semi-finals, with him and Jessica Pegula beating Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz along the way.

World No 5 Draper is hoping to be a force this year. In 2024 he reached the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows before losing to eventual champion Sinner.

Ahead of the tournament he had to withdraw from events in Toronto and Cincinnati due to a forearm injury, but has now recovered ahead of this US Open return.

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Scottie Scheffler on what’s ‘taken a lot’ out of him ahead of the Tour Championship, it affected his preparation

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Scottie Scheffler revealed that something has taken a lot out of him in the build up to the Tour Championship.

The PGA Tour is set for its final event of the postseason – the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. 30 of the best golfers on the PGA Tour will battle it out over four days to become the FedEx Cup champion.

Scottie Scheffler enters the championship as world number one, and leads the FedEx Cup standings by a considerable margin over Rory McIlroy in second. He beat Robert MacIntyre to win the BMW Championship last week, and now seeks to retain his FedEx Cup title.

But his preparation has been affected by something that he admitted has taken a lot out of him.

Scottie Scheffler said being in contention takes a lot out of him

Scheffler has had a historic year. He won the Open Championship and PGA Championship to move a U.S. Open away from the career grand slam, won the FedEx Cup regular season running away, and has cemented his status as the world’s best golfer.

Scheffler’s season has been compared to Tiger Woods and drawn plaudits from Phil Mickelson, such has been his dominance.

Every tournament feels like Scheffler vs the field. He’s in contention week in, week out, and has shown no signs of slowing down. Or so we thought. The American said that this weekend his focus is on rest, as his 2025 dominance has taken a lot.

Speaking to the Golf Channel, he admitted, “After having a week like last week, it takes a lot out of you being in contention. So going into this week I’m focusing on rest for the first couple of days. I’m going to get used to the speed of the greens and get used to the bunkers and the rough.

“I’m not going to be hitting a lot of balls on the driving range. I’m going to play nine holes and do my putting and chipping and then I’m going to get out of here.

“A little bit of a different prep work than a normal week but that’s just because I feel like my game’s in a good spot and I need rest going into this week.”

That’s great news for the rest of the field, especially with the new format pulling Scheffler ever closer.

Scottie Scheffler happy with new Tour Championship format, despite suffering disadvantage

In previous years, Scheffler would have started the Tour Championship with a two-shot advantage as the FedEx Cup leader. This year, the format has changed, and everyone starts from zero. But a confident Scheffler said this format is better for the sport.

“The last few years have been an unusual format. I gave up my handicap this year which is a little different. I much prefer this format. I think having a really good golf tournament to finish off our year is the way to do it, and the way the format was the last couple years, I didn’t think it was a great tournament.”

Giving a two-shot lead to Scheffler is effectively giving him the win. Now, the likes of McIlroy, Fleetwood, and St. Jude Championship winner Justin Rose are all in contention to win the coveted prize.

With Scheffler taking it easy in the first few days, a hot start for any of the world’s best players could give them a significant advantage.

 

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2025 Tour Championship picks, odds: Can anybody upset Scottie Scheffler at East Lake?

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The 2025 PGA Tour season concludes this weekend at East Lake in Atlanta, Ga., and, if we’re being honest, they should just crown Scottie Scheffler the FedEx Cup Champion and save us all the trouble.

Scheffler erased a four-stroke deficit Sunday to win the BMW Championship, giving the World No. 1 his fifth win and 15th top-10 finish in 18 starts this season.

Those results are historic, but he’ll only be crowned as this season’s champion if he can win this week’s Tour Championship.

In previous formats, Scheffler would start the Tour Championship at 10-under par, but the powers that be have decided to do away with starting strokes and put all 30 players on even par for the 2025 iteration.

Not only does that level the playing field, but it also makes this tournament a lot more fun for bettors, who, like casual fans, were pretty tired of the old format.

Even without the head start, Scheffler is a whopping +150 favorite at DraftKings, well ahead of Rory McIlroy (+850), Tommy Fleetwood (14/1), Ludvig Aberg (18/1) and Russell Henley (20/1).

Despite his Tiger-esque odds, you can feel pretty confident that Scheffler will be the most popular bet behind the window this week – and don’t let me stand in your way if that’s your speed – but we’ll pick out a few long shots who look like they’re primed to make some noise in the curtain-closer.

If you’re a regular reader of our Wednesday golf picks, you probably saw this one coming.

We’ve been on Harry Hall the past two weeks, hoping to cash in on the Englishman’s terrific, yet unheralded, form.

It hasn’t worked out just yet, but Hall was right around it once again at the BMW Championship, finishing sixth for his fifth top-10 finish on the season.

The 28-year-old has been remarkably consistent to close out 2025, posting 11 straight top-30 finishes with eight top-20s in that span.

According to Justin Ray of the Twenty-First Group, Hall ranks first in strokes gained: putting, third in scoring average and fourth in birdie-or-better rate since May 1.

He’s doing everything but winning right now.

It wasn’t too long ago that Shane Lowry was in terrific form with nine top-20s, four top-10s and a pair of runner-ups in his first 14 starts in 2025.

A terrible showing at the US Open seemed to cause the Irishman to come unglued, however, and he’s now without a top-20 finish in his last five tournaments.

That said, Lowry finished T23 at the BMW Championship and showed signs of life Sunday.

Known to do his best work on the biggest stages, Lowry’s talent means he’s always worth a look at this kind of price.

Like Hall, Sungjae Im has been a regular feature in this column to no avail, yet.

Like Lowry, this is a buy-low opportunity on a player with the talent to disrupt this field.

It may be a surprise that Im even qualified for this event, but his T17 at the St. Jude two weeks ago was enough to vault him into East Lake in what has otherwise been a down year.

The South Korean has missed four cuts and posted just two top-30 finishes in his last 10 starts, but he has popped at different times this year. He came out of the gates strong with two top-five results in his first three starts, and he was T5 at Augusta in April.

Im also has some strong history at East Lake with a runner-up in 2022 and a sixth-place finish last year.

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