Scheffler Nears Career Earnings Record Held by Tiger Woods

Scottie Scheffler is on the verge of breaking a PGA Tour record that Tiger Woods has held for more than 26 years — even though the world No. 1 says it means little to him.

Scheffler enters the BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis coming off his 21st career victory, an eight-shot win at the FedEx St. Jude Championship worth $3.6 million. That was the fifth time this year he has earned $2 million or more in a single event, pushing his career earnings to $119,964,411 — within $1,034,756 of Woods' all-time mark of $120,999,166.

Scheffler could surpass Woods with as little as a three-way tie for third place this week. He downplayed the milestone, noting Woods' record reflects the tour's rising purses rather than win totals. Woods has 82 career victories, tied with Sam Snead for the most in tour history; Scheffler has 21.

"That has a lot to do with the purses and all that," Scheffler said Wednesday. "I'm not really too close to him in terms of career wins. What am I, like a fourth of the way there?"

Woods took over the career earnings lead from Davis Love III in February 2000 after tying for second at the Buick Invitational, when the tournament's total purse was $3 million. He earned his last official paycheck — $44,000 — at the 2024 Masters, which Scheffler won.

Scheffler credited Woods for the tour's financial growth. "Tiger did a lot for the game of golf and he put us in a position where we're able to earn some pretty good stuff financially," he said. "We're very thankful for his contributions to the game and hopefully we'll see him back out here competing again soon."

The BMW Championship is the second event of the FedEx Cup playoffs, with 30 players advancing to the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake, which carries a $40 million purse and a $10 million top prize. Scheffler has already clinched the $23 million FedEx Cup bonus for leading the standings, a sum that does not count toward official career earnings.

Other players with stakes in the week include Gary Woodland, recovering from brain surgery and ranked 31st with a chance to reach the Tour Championship for the first time in six years, and 46-year-old Adam Scott, the only player in the field who competed the last time the BMW Championship was held at Bellerive, in 2008.