Some weeks in golf, one performance cuts through everything else. At TPC Southwind on a humid Sunday in Memphis, Scottie Scheffler provided that performance. Eight strokes. Twenty-one wins. A new driver in the bag. The world number one has a gift for making the extraordinary look routine.
PGA Tour: 2026 FedEx St. Jude Championship
It’s getting harder to find new things to say about what Scottie Scheffler does to a golf tournament. At the 2026 FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind, he took apart a world-class field with the kind of controlled, relentless golf that’s become his calling card. Eight strokes. His 21st PGA Tour title. The FedEx Cup Playoffs have barely started.
The detail worth noting is what he had in the bag. Scheffler arrived in Memphis having quietly switched to TaylorMade’s new Qi4D driver — a change that, for most tour players, would mean weeks of doubt and tinkering. For Scheffler, it produced a playoff win by eight. As Golf.com’s equipment breakdown noted, the Qi4D marks his first major driver change in some time. He made the transition look like nothing.
There was one wobble during the final round — a bunker shot that hit a sprinkler head and found the water — a reminder that golf doesn’t fully submit to anyone. Scheffler absorbed it and kept going. That’s the thing about him right now: it’s not just the talent, it’s how little seems to rattle him. The $20 million purse sent $3.6 million his way, but the number that matters more is 21. And the Playoffs are just getting started.
U.S. Amateur: Jack Whaley Wins at Merion
Out at Merion Golf Club, a different kind of week played out. The 2026 U.S. Amateur built to a finish that suited both the course and the champion. Merion asks for patience, precision, and a lot of thinking. It’s not a place that rewards going for broke.
Jack Whaley, an Englishman, read the place well. As Golf.com’s Alan Shipnuck observed, putting Whaley on what was essentially a links-style course in blustery, grey, links-style conditions was a decent bit of luck for him — these were conditions he knew. He worked through the match play bracket with a measured intelligence the format demands, and he left Merion as champion.
What gave the week its texture, though, was the story behind the win. Golf.com’s piece on the Whaley family is worth reading — it turns out the trophy meant considerably more than just a title. Merion has a way of doing that to people.
Golf News: Jon Rahm, LIV Golf, and the Questions That Won’t Go Away
The week’s bigger conversations extended off the course too. Golf.com’s Tour Confidential gathered the publication’s writers to chew over a question that hasn’t gone away: where does Jon Rahm actually stand at LIV Golf?
Rahm’s move was a big deal — a two-time major champion and former world number one walking away from the traditional tour structure. Whether it’s worked out the way he hoped is genuinely unclear. Watching a player of his ability try to find his footing in a format that’s still figuring itself out is strange to watch. There aren’t clean answers here, and anyone who pretends otherwise isn’t paying attention.
Equipment Corner
Beyond Scheffler’s driver switch — which will send equipment-minded readers down a thorough rabbit hole — there were a couple of other gear notes from the week. Killer Golf, the Boise-based putter maker, introduced two new models built off the design made for LPGA player Soo Bin (Alicia) Joo. Putter fitting is getting more attention at every level of the game, and this is part of that.
On the technology side, Unknown Golf launched Ask Unknown AI, an AI-powered assistant built to help club professionals quickly answer tournament and league management questions. It’s a fairly practical application — the kind of thing that frees up staff to deal with everything else on their plates rather than digging through rulebooks.
Looking Ahead
The FedEx Cup Playoffs move forward with Scheffler having made his position clear in Memphis. Whether anyone can genuinely challenge him over the coming weeks is a real question — though watching him roll through a field by eight strokes doesn’t exactly suggest vulnerability. The Playoffs tighten everything up. Momentum counts. Right now, Scheffler has more of it than anyone.
Whaley heads back to England with the U.S. Amateur title — a piece of American golf history won on a course that asked a lot and got everything he had. Whatever his path looks like from here, professional or amateur, he earned his week at Merion.
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