Even the best in the world get it wrong sometimes. Scottie Scheffler knows that better than anyone. But on the par-3 13th, he didn’t get it wrong at all. The World No.1 made the right call, hit the right shot, and still watched it slip away.

On Sunday at the Stadium Course at The American Express 2026, he led by three shots at 27-under and faced a big save on the par-3 13th. Scottie missed the green and had to scramble. He clipped a high wedge that landed soft and rolled straight at the cup. The crowd held its breath as it stayed in line, looking perfect, until it drifted just enough to miss.

The PGA Tour’s official social media account shared the clip, but what made it stand out wasn’t just the shot. It was Scottie’s reaction. He flipped his wedge into the air in disbelief, then covered his face with his hands like he couldn’t believe it didn’t fall.

The PGA Tour summed it up perfectly in the caption: “Sometimes they just don’t drop, Scottie.”

While the American Express moment was lighthearted, it fits into a broader pattern of Scheffler’s emotional evolution.

During the first round of the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, a streak of bogeys pushed him over par and finally boiled over on the 14th hole. After a poor approach, he slammed his iron into the turf, a rare flash of aggression from the World No. 1.

Earlier that same week on the 9th, his frustration looked different. He simply dropped his club right after impact, a quieter sign that his swing wasn’t doing what he wanted.

Still, despite the flying wedge in the desert, Scheffler remained firmly in control on Sunday.

He began the final round just one shot behind S.W. Kim at 21-under and immediately turned up the pressure, making four birdies in his first six holes. He grabbed the lead for good when his par-4 seventh approach finished inside two feet.

From there, he kept piling on. Five more birdies pushed him to 29-under by the 16th, matching Nick Dunlap’s American Express scoring record and giving him a commanding six-shot cushion.

The only real blemish came at the par-3 17th, where his tee shot found the water and led to a double-bogey. But with such a large lead already built, he still walked up the 18th fairway comfortably ahead.

Scheffler signed for a 66 and finished at 261 (-27) for the week. It marked the 20th win of his career in just 151 starts.

With that, the 29-year-old became only the third golfer in the modern era to reach at least 20 wins and four major titles before turning 30, joining Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

And while Scheffler lifted the trophy, the rest of the field spent the day chasing a standard they simply couldn’t match.

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The contenders who pushed Scheffler

Si Woo Kim led the game for fifty-four whole holes this week. He played great at La Quinta to reach twenty-two under par total. But the Sunday pressure on the Stadium Course was just too much.

He finished in a tie for sixth place at twenty-two under. Ryan Gerard also made a giant charge with a sixty-five on Sunday to finish tied second. Andrew Putnam shot a sixty on Friday to join the big group. These players made the World No. 1 work for it.

And we must talk about the eighteen-year-old kid named Blades Brown.

He had a very crazy week before reaching the sunny California desert. On Wednesday, he was playing golf in the far and windy Bahamas. He finished his game at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic, tying for 17th. and jumped onto a private jet plane, using a voucher he won at Myrtle Beach two years ago. He landed in the desert at eight o’clock that same night. The teenager got some Panda Express and woke up at five in the morning to play at the tournament.

The young star played like he had been there for many years.

On Friday, he shot a sixty on the Nicklaus tournament course. This made him the youngest player to ever do that on tour.

He made ten birdies and one eagle that day. He almost shot a fifty-nine but missed the very last putt. And on Saturday, Blades did something very funny on the seventeenth hole. He played rock-paper-scissors with a fan in the middle of the game before making a long and curvy birdie putt. He started the last round tied for second place with Scheffler and finished in sixteenth place with a -19 total score.

Scottie Scheffler’s victory at the American Express has set a terrifying precedent for the 2026 season. Following his win, the tour moves to the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines (Jan 29 – Feb 1), where five-time major champion Brooks Koepka is set to make his PGA Tour return after playing 3 seasons at the Saudi-based LIV Golf.