ATLANTA -- After Scottie Scheffler won only one tournament during the regular season, there were questions about whether the world No. 1 deserved to win PGA Tour Player of the Year for the fifth consecutive season.
With five runner-up and 11 top-five finishes in his first 17 starts, Scheffler might have been the most consistent golfer this season but maybe not the best.
Perhaps other golfers who won more often this season, such as U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick or Chris Gotterup, were more deserving.
Scheffler settled the debate Sunday when he held off Norway's Viktor Hovland in a back-nine duel to win his second FedEx Cup in three years with a three-stroke victory in the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club.
After starting the final round three strokes behind Hovland, Scheffler carded a 4-under 66 over the final 18 holes to capture the 22nd PGA Tour victory of his career.
Ryan Gerard tied for third place.
"The golf course got a bit firmer," Scheffler said. "There was some wind. I feel like for Atlanta this feels like a lot of wind. It's pretty rare to get some wind here. Yeah, with the way the rough is, when it gets firm, the fairway started to play a little more narrow. Today was a day I was fortunate to get off to a good start and was able to make some birdies late in the round to kind of seal the deal."
Even during a season in which Scheffler might not have had his best from start to finish, he still came out on top in the end.
"I think that's something I'm very proud of," Scheffler said. "I think when you look over the course of the season, and especially some of the tough starts, shooting over par to start a tournament on the PGA Tour is never a good spot to be in. I'm very proud of fighting back and having some good finishes and even giving myself some chances to win with some of those poor starts.
"Overall, [I] just continued to battle, day in and day out. It's something that I'm very proud of. It's a gift to be out here on tour. Each and every day, I'm going to try to give it my best."
Leading Hovland by one stroke with three holes to play, Scheffler hit his 317-yard drive on the par-4 16th into a left fairway bunker. His approach stopped 11 feet from the hole, and then he made the birdie putt to stretch his lead to two.
Scheffler carded a par on the par-4 17th. Minutes later, Hovland barely missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the 16th that would have cut his deficit in half. On the 17th, Hovland sailed his approach from 103 yards over the green and into the deep rough. A bogey dropped him to 13 under and all but ended his chances.
It was Scheffler's second victory in the FedEx Cup playoffs; he won the opening leg by a whopping eight strokes at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, two weeks ago.
The only thing that cooled down the 30-year-old during the playoffs was hand, foot and mouth disease. He battled the viral illness and blisters on his hands during last week's BMW Championship in St. Louis but still tied for 12th.
"Obviously, Scottie is unbelievable," said Ludvig Åberg, who tied for fourth at 11 under. "He's shown over and over again that he's world No. 1, and you can just look at the scores in the last couple of groups and there were no real good scores except for that 66. I thought today was quite difficult, but he played solid golf. He takes control of the tournament."
By collecting the $10 million winner's purse, Scheffler became the PGA Tour's all-time leader in career on-course earnings with about $130.4 million, ending Tiger Woods' 26-year reign. Woods collected about $121 million during his historic career.
Scheffler should also join Woods as the only golfers to be named PGA Tour Player of the Year five consecutive times when the winner is announced in December. Woods won it every season from 1999 to 2003.
Woods took to social media to congratulate Scheffler after winning another Cup.
Three wins, five runner-ups and finishing the season No. 1. Those are some numbers to be proud of. Incredible consistency all season long. Congrats on a historic season, Scottie.
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) August 30, 2026
With a second victory at East Lake, Scheffler joined Woods (three), McIlroy (three) and Phil Mickelson (two) as multiple winners of the Tour Championship since its inception in 1987.
"He knows where the ball's going," Hovland said. "I don't think he's trying to do too much with it. I think he knows that he's got an edge on most guys out here. So, he doesn't have to do anything crazy. He can play smart and just kind of pick his spots, stay in it constantly.
"Today, it wasn't like anybody else really played all that great in contention, and that's what you see, a lot of guys just gagging and throwing up, and that's where he just kind of stays in it and shoots a nice score. That gets the job done."
Scheffler won the 2024 Tour Championship at East Lake by four strokes over Collin Morikawa after beginning the tournament with a two-shot lead over the field because of starting strokes.
Scheffler picked up two birdies in his first four holes Sunday -- he nearly aced the par-3 second -- and tied Hovland for the lead at 14 under.
After making the turn at 2 under in his round, Scheffler caught Hovland again with an 8½-foot birdie on the 10th. Another birdie on the 13th put him one stroke in front, but then his only mistake of the back nine, a bogey on the long par-4 14th, moved him back into a tie with Hovland, setting up the dramatic four-hole finish.