When the FedEx Cup standings were introduced in 2007, Tiger Woods wasted no time in setting an untouchable standard. That season, Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker made 52,520 points combine, yet Woods alone racked up a staggering 53,607. His dominance was absolute: seven titles, three runner-up finishes, and two playoff victories, including the BMW Championship and the TOUR Championship. Now, nearly two decades later, Scottie Scheffler’s latest triumph at Caves Valley has golf fans wondering—could he be on the verge of replicating the same kind of supremacy?
Before the 2025 TOUR Championship begins this week, Scheffler has already gathered 7,456. At second and third, Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun have combined to score 7,180 points. While the world #1 is out of reach for everyone, he still has a shot at replicating the success of Woods from back in 2007. And Brandel Chamblee has challenged him to do that by winning at East Lake. In turn, the expert has also revealed a curse that hasn’t been broken ever since the big cat won the last two playoff events back in 2007.
Chamblee tweeted, “Leading the FedExCup going into the Tour Championship has effectively been like having the 54-hole lead in a @PGATOUR event, in that it has put players off their games. Or maybe the enormous amount of money at stake is hard to put out of one’s mind; either way, on average, the leader underperforms at East Lake. Since the FedExCup playoffs began in 2007, the player leading the playoffs going into the @TOURChamp has only once shot the lowest score at East Lake. In 2007, Tiger Woods, in one of his best years ever, was leading the playoffs going into the Tour Championship and then shot 257 to win by 8. He was truly on another level.”
That’s right, since the beginning of the FedEx Cup, anyone who has led the playoffs table has never won the TOUR Championship. Anyone except Tiger Woods, of course. The fact that Chamblee posted this just hours after Scheffler won the 2025 BMW Championship suggests that he may have laid out a challenge. The world #1 has surpassed all expectations so far. But the challenge at East Lake will be a mammoth one. If he does beat Rory McIlroy & Co. to win in Atlanta, then he would break the 18-year curse and start a new chapter in golf. The only question is, can he do it?
Leading the FedExCup going into the Tour Championship has effectively been like having the 54 hole lead in a @PGATOUR event, in that it has put players off their games. Or maybe the enormous amount of money at stake is hard to put out of one’s mind, either way, on average, the…
— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) August 18, 2025
Let’s take a look at how Scottie Scheffler has fared over the years at East Lake apart from his obvious record in 2024.
Can Scottie Scheffler match Tiger Woods’s feat?
Winning the BMW Championship and the TOUR Championship is no ordinary feat. Then again, Tiger Woods was no ordinary man. And if the last few years have proven anything, then Scottie Scheffler is also walking on the same path. As we all know, he won the 2024 TOUR Championship quite comfortably. Despite the tremendous fight put up by Collin Morikawa, who had the lowest gross score, Scheffler was the man standing tall on September 1, 2024, by 4 strokes.
Beyond that, Mr. Inevitable holds an impressive record in the season-ending playoff event. He has played in the tournament four other times and finished in the top 6 in three of them. The only time Scottie missed the top-6 was in 2021, when he ended up at T22. Very few golfers hold such an impressive record in the TOUR Championship. Even Tiger Woods wasn’t as consistent at East Lake. The only real threat that Scottie Scheffler might face in Georgia is from Rory McIlroy. The Irishman is also incredibly consistent in the playoff event. In fact, the worst performance he has showcased in his 13 attempts so far was a T16 from way back in 2015.
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