Scottie Scheffler claimed several little bits of Players Championship history with his mesmerizing Sunday 64 that won him the title for a second straight year. Take that repeat victory, for instance. The 27-year-old Texan is the first ever to win the PGA Tour’s flagship event in back-to-back years. And to rally from five shots back of the lead on the final day ties a record for the biggest comeback at the tournament since it moved to TPC Sawgrass in 1983. Oh, and that bogey-free eight-under 64 matches the lowest score shot by a winner in the now 50 editions of the event. All good stuff.

In the process of winning his eighth career tour title, Scheffler also claimed a record-tying prize money payout of $4.5 million. And the addition to his bank account allowed Scheffler to pass an impressive career earnings milestone.

He is the 15th golfer to break the $50 million mark on the PGA Tour.

Scheffler officially has earned $53.5 million on tour, which jumps him past Jon Rahm into 14th place on the all-time money list. He’s also the fastest to break the $50 million barrier, doing it in 113 starts. By comparison, it took Tiger Woods 177 starts to eclipse the mark (he did it in 2005), Rory McIlroy 169 starts when he broke through in 2019 and Rahm 141 starts (the Spaniard accomplishing the feat at last year’s U.S. Open).

Mind you, the fact that Scheffler can boast of being the fastest to $50 million comes with a huge asterisk. As has been well-documented, purses in PGA Tour events have skyrocketed in the last few years as the tour upped the ante in the face of the threat from LIV Golf and its big-ticket tournaments. Consider then that Scheffler has eight tour wins at this point. When McIlroy hit $50 million, he had won 18 times. And when Tiger hit the big 5-0, he had won 48 times. Big difference.

Given the bump in prize money, the $50 million club is poised to admit a few more members in the very near future. After his T-6 finish at Sawgrass, Hideki Matsuyama now has $49.796 million in career earnings. And Rickie Fowler is at $49.307 million. It would seem inevitable that this duo will be joining Scottie sooner than later.

SOURCE: golfdigest.com