Tommy Fleetwood knows Scottie Scheffler is the player to catch at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, but he isn't going to waste energy worrying about what the World No. 1 does.

Fleetwood's approach is simple: focus on his own game, shoot the best score possible, and see where that leaves him. With Scheffler setting the pace, the Englishman knows he can only control his own performance heading into the final round.

"It’s so cliche to say you can’t do anything about it, isn’t it? It’s sort of a boring answer, but what can we do about Scottie Scheffler?" Fleetwood said.

Fleetwood's answer made his approach clear. Rather than trying to match whatever Scheffler does, he wants to control his own score and let the leaderboard take care of the rest.

"Just go out there and try to manage your game as best as possible. Shoot the best score you can and see what happens," Fleetwood added, reported by Antony Martin of HITC. 

After his second-round 68, Fleetwood was asked whether he believed he could close the gap on the World No. 1.

Fleetwood also acknowledged why Scheffler remains such a difficult benchmark, calling him someone the rest of the field can look up to and chase.

"I think, in general, in the world of golf, Scottie is a great person to chase, whether it’s a tournament this week or because he’s the best golfer in the world, and you can all look up to him and try to chase him."

He further spoke about Scheffler's position at the top while also acknowledging the weekend ahead. 

"He just happens to be up there again, and we’ll see what we can do over the weekend."

With the final round ahead, Fleetwood's task is not to worry about matching Scheffler shot for shot. Instead, he will need to produce his best possible round and trust that his score will give him a chance to climb the leaderboard.

Scottie Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood Finish the FedEx St. Jude

Scheffler secured the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Sunday after he beat the runner-up Si Woo Kim by eight shots. 

It marked his second win in 2026 and his career 21st PGA Tour win. To seal the victory, he made a 4-under-par 66 on the final round. 

While talking to the media, Scheffler expressed how he felt about winning the FedEx St. Jude Championship after several close calls earlier this year.

“I felt like a week like this was coming,” Scheffler said via the FedEx St. Jude Championship presser on August 16. “I felt like I was on repeat all year just being like, ‘Hey, I’m playing solid. I’m close.’ It feels good to be answering some different questions at the end of this week.” 

Meanwhile, Fleetwood tied for seventh with Jake Knapp, Hideki Matsuyama, Xander Schauffele, and Ludvig Aberg on the FedEx St. Jude Championship leaderboard with a 6 under 274. 

Fleetwood's comments showed that he never intended to make Scheffler's score the focus of his own round. His goal was simply to play his best golf and let the leaderboard determine whether that was enough to close the gap.

Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Rudra Dubey