Scottie Scheffler says maintaining intensity level a key factor in 2026 consistency

ATLANTA – Based on wins alone, the 2026 season has not been Scottie Scheffler's most prolific. However, his level of consistency has not experienced any drop-off, and if anything, has been raised a notch.

The long-standing world No. 1 golfer picked up his second PGA TOUR win this year nearly seven months after his first at the first FedExCup Playoffs event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Sandwiched in between came five runner-up finishes and 10 top 10s to his credit. He has racked up at least 10 top-five finishes in each of his last five seasons, with 21 victories and four major championships.

A lot has been made of Scheffler’s golden standard on TOUR, as he’s maintained the title of world’s best for more than four years. To him, through the additions to his family this year with the birth of his second son, one thing has kept him at that level: intensity.

“I think for me one thing I've learned over the course of my career is just bringing a certain type of intensity to each round,” Scheffler said Wednesday ahead of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club. “I think that's something that's a lot easier said than done. I was born being competitive, and I love being able to compete and play out here, and it's something I don't take for granted.”

The Texan’s play this season has gone so far as to convince top players like Rory McIlroy that his FedEx St. Jude eight-shot runaway was more than sufficient a case for his fifth straight Player of the Year award.

“I’m not the Player of the Year, no chance,” McIlroy said prior to last week's BMW Championship. “Scottie is.”

For how much he’s accomplished at only 30 years old – except for completing the Grand Slam with a U.S. Open victory – the allure of the game itself is what drives Scheffler to keep striving.

“I think the game of golf, you're always – there's always something to figure out. I think that's why you see a lot of athletes, when they finish their sport, they always take up golf. Because I think as an athlete, you love the preparation, you love working towards something,” Scheffler said.

“It can be weird for somebody. Let's say like if you're a football player and you retire at 35 years old, or a basketball player, like you've done that sport and you've had your routine and your preparation. You've done it for basically 30 years; then all of a sudden you retire, and you're like, wait, ‘What am I working towards?’ I feel like in golf it's a puzzle that you're always trying to solve.”

McIlroy is not by any means alone in his respect for Scheffler’s sustained run at the highest level of golf humans can generate. Gary Woodland, who qualified for his first TOUR Championship since 2019 after an emotional win at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, has had multiple opportunities to witness Scheffler’s otherworldly play, both inside the ropes and during friendly matches.

“I think Scottie understands himself better than anybody I've been around. I've spent a lot of time around him the last couple years, played most practice rounds together, and watching him go about his business and understanding what he can and can't do,” Woodland said Wednesday.

“He manages – talk about managing energy. I don't know if anyone manages their energy as well as Scottie does as well. It's impressive to see how he is in control.”

Woodland and Scheffler share Randy Smith as their swing coach, and the former said he has deposited a lot in his memory banks from practice sessions with Scheffler, whether in the world’s best’s hometown of Dallas or in Memphis ahead of the Playoffs opener. He affectionately calls these sessions “training camp.”

“It's amazing being with Randy, but it's amazing for me to practice with Scottie as well and watch how he goes about his business and watch what he does. So, yeah, I spend as much time with him as I can for sure,” Woodland said.

Scheffler, the 2024 FedExCup champion, can join McIlroy (2016, 2019, 2022) and Tiger Woods (2007, 2009) as the only players in Playoffs history with multiple season-long titles with a win in Atlanta this week. Having a few days to recover from hand, foot and mouth disease could be all he needs to reclaim the trophy.

Whether he leaves East Lake empty-handed or not, though, Scheffler’s perspective has forever shifted as a father of two. That pocket of his life is much slower, not under the microscope, unlike his TOUR life. But this “balancing act,” as Scheffler labeled it, is only placing more significance on the journey.

“I'm at a point in my life where, yeah, it's really hard having two young kids and taking care of them. I think anyone with young kids can relate, you're just tired literally all the time. I think you want to enjoy the season because eventually my kids aren't going to be able to be out here,” Scheffler said.

“Part of it is hard, but part of it is you've got to also enjoy it because it doesn't last.”