Scottie Scheffler terrorizes Memphis, Rory McIlroy completely mails it in, and Jordan Spieth is done

It turns out Scottie Scheffler still remembers how to win a golf tournament. The No. 1 player in the world did No. 1 player in the world things in Memphis to not only pick up his first win since January, but also lapped the field to the tune of an eight-shot victory. It was the first 'boring' Sunday we've had on the in quite some time, which is the easiest tell that Scheffler was operating at a different level than everyone else.

Rory McIlroy was also in Memphis. He didn't want to be there and made that widely known before Thursday's opening round, yet the mailing it in we saw from the six-time major champion was embarrassing. Yes, future Hall of Famers have bad weeks, but posting 8-over and finishing 25 shots behind the winner deserves criticism.

Meanwhile, Jordan Spieth's season is done. He sure made things fun on Thursday at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, but his inconsistencies this season finally caught up to him ahead of the penultimate event on the calendar.

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We humans are reactive, and we also love building narratives, but the one many built about Scottie Scheffler in 2026 will be looked at as perhaps one of the most forced of the modern era.

For months now, the question of 'What's wrong with Scottie?' has been asked – sometimes legitimately and sometimes tongue-in-cheek – given that his ball-striking took a dip statistically and it felt as if he was allergic to finding the winner's circle.

In the grand scheme of things, we lost the very simple plot along the way that winning golf tournaments is hard, even for the best player on Earth.

With how easy Scheffler made things look in Memphis, however, the golf world as a whole needs to agree to kill the narrative that something is wrong Scottie. Yes, it's just his second win in 2026, but it was by eight shots in a FedEx Cup Playoff event, and when you couple it with his season resume, he's doing far more right than wrong.

Entering the week, Scheffler had his AmEx victory in January, five second-place finishes, two third-place finishes, and a total of 11 Top 10s in 17 starts. While expectations are rightfully as high as possible, and without winning a major in 2026, the knee-jerk reaction of calling it a disappointing campaign is only natural (and maybe even a little fair), but his FedEx St. Jude Championship victory kills the narrative of something being wrong.

Scheffler began Sunday's final round in Memphis with a two-shot advantage, and while there was hope for a fun battle between him and Burns in the final pairing, things turned into a snooze after just a handful of holes. Outside of a bogey on the Par 5 third hole, it was clinical from Scheffler on Sunday. Simply one of those days where a 'bad swing' resulted in him missing his target by a few feet.

One blemish on Scheffler's Sunday scorecard to go along with five birdies while finishing the week leading the field in strokes gained: putting. That last statistic is a horrifying one for every player hoping to win the FedEx Cup in two weeks' time.

Rory McIlroy was not the only player who teed it up at TPC Southwind who wanted to be anywhere but Memphis in mid-August, competing in 100-degree heat. Rory McIlroy is, however, seen by most as the face of the PGA Tour, and playing in the PGA Tour's three playoff events to close out the year seems like so