Over the last two seasons on the PGA Tour, this scene has appeared with increasing frequency. World number one golfer Scottie Scheffler finishes his decisive putt to win, shakes hands with a few opponents, and then his wife Meredith and son Bennett rush over to embrace him.

Bennett was born in May 2024, right in the middle of his father’s explosive season with 7 wins, and to date he has been a part of half of Scheffler’s 20 Tour victories. When Scheffler won the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village that June, Bennett was just a toddler. But on Sunday at The American Express, 20-month-old Bennett was bouncing on the green grass, his bare feet glistening in the sun, his hand held tightly by his mother. The words printed on the back of his jacket read: Life is Good.

Life is indeed going very well for the Scheffler family, but for his rivals on the PGA Tour, they can only shake their heads in dismay at another dominant performance, showing that the world number one golfer has not lost the motivation that helped him win 6 games, including 2 major titles, last season.

Scheffler entered the final round on the PGA West Stadium Course in a rather unusual group, one stroke behind Si Woo Kim and tied with 18-year-old sensation Blades Brown. But as the sun set behind the San Jacinto mountains, both could only watch as Scheffler left a trail of smoke. Kim shot 72 and finished tied for 6th place, 5 strokes behind; Brown (74 strokes, T-18) was 8 strokes behind. Meanwhile, Scheffler recorded 9 birdies, closing the round with 66 strokes (-6), finishing the tournament at -27. He became the third person in history, along with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, to surpass $100 million in career prize money.

Scottie Scheffler won The American Express.

Former major champion Jason Day (64 strokes), along with Ryan Gerard (65), Matt McCarty (68) and Andrew Putnam (68), moved up to a tie for second place at -23. However, the gap would have been even larger if Scheffler hadn’t mishit his tee shot on the par-3 island hole 17 and made a double bogey. Earlier, a birdie on hole 16 had brought him to -29, enough to at least equal the tournament record on the current course layout, set by amateur golfer Nick Dunlap in 2024.

Scheffler continues to display a level of performance rarely seen since the early stages of Tiger Woods’ career. With his 20th victory in just 151 starts, Scheffler is the second fastest player in history to reach this milestone, behind only Woods. Even more remarkably, the 29-year-old Texas golfer has joined an extremely rare group, consisting only of Woods and Jack Nicklaus, who have won four major titles and 20 Tour victories before the age of 30.

“Whenever you’re mentioned alongside those legends, it means you’re doing something right,” Scheffler said Sunday evening.

Then, as expected, he added: “But ultimately, that’s not something I think about every day. When preparing for this week, I’m just trying to focus and do my best. Hopefully, we’ll leave here tonight, get some rest, and then prepare for the next leg in a few weeks. I don’t spend too much time thinking about milestones.”

That’s precisely what makes Scheffler so formidable. At the end of the 18th hole on Sunday, he simply raised his right hand, showing almost no emotion. He also just gave caddie Ted Scott a quick hug and a light pat on the back. For someone who always craves victory, Scheffler appeared remarkably calm in the moment of lifting the trophy.

So how did he receive the victory, or celebrate it?

“That’s a good question,” Scheffler smiled. “Sometimes it’s hard to fully appreciate everything when you’re in the moment.”

He said that when you’re in the final group and have a big lead, it’s important to stay in the present: “Most of the day I just try to stay calm, focus on what I can do, then go out and hit each shot.”

“When the tournament was over,” Scheffler added, “it felt like a relief, the day was over and I had won.”

Next, Scheffler will rest for a week before entering the “cauldron” of the WM Phoenix Open, where he secured his first Tour victory of 2022.