Scottie Scheffler possesses many exemplary qualities that have propelled him to world No. 1. His ability to limit mistakes has been one of the most impressive and crucial to his success.

Yet a significant blunder on Sunday at the TOUR Championship was what cost Scheffler the opportunity to become the first back-to-back FedExCup champion.

Scheffler fired his 21st consecutive round in the 60s, tying Patrick Cantlay for the longest streak in the modern era, but it wasn’t enough to unseat Tommy Fleetwood and win the TOUR Championship. And Scheffler will rue one uncharacteristic shot in particular that sank his chances.

Trailing by only two shots when he reached the 15th tee, Scheffler seemed destined to once again hunt down his competitors with a Sunday comeback.

You only needed to look back at the last two weeks as evidence. Scheffler tracked down Robert MacIntyre with ease to win the BMW Championship, and Fleetwood had shown himself vulnerable to relinquishing a lead, losing the FedEx St. Jude Championship in heartbreaking fashion after leading by two shots with three holes to play. But Scheffler made the one mistake you couldn’t make. His approach to the 218-yard island par-3 started left and never cut back, briefly bouncing on land before trundling down into the pond. Scheffler made a double bogey, ultimately finishing four strokes behind Fleetwood.

“I wasn't as sharp as I would have hoped to have,” Scheffler said after the round. “I had a good first round, but outside of that didn't really play my best the first few days. Still gave myself a shot.”

Scheffler finished in a tie for fourth. It’s his 14th straight top-eight finish, the longest such streak since Ben Hogan had 14 in a row in the 1950s.

Scheffler has amassed those consistent finishes and 14 worldwide wins in his last 18 months because he’s avoided the big mistake in the big moment. He leads the TOUR in bogey avoidance and birdie percentage, a combo that rightly leads to winning.

That did not describe Scheffler’s final round at East Lake. From the very start, Scheffler was off. He pumped his opening tee shot out of bounds and did well just to make a bogey from there. After Fleetwood made a birdie at the second hole, Scheffler’s deficit had grown to six shots.

The world No. 1 struggles stemmed mostly from the tee, ranking as the fourth-worst during the final round. Both of his costly misses – at the first and 15th – were pulled off the tee. His only other bogey of the day came at the fifth, which he pushed right of the fairway.

“I battled all week to give myself a chance … Just needed a few better swings,” Scheffler said.

Scheffler did not emerge as the season-long champion of the FedExCup, nor will he become the first player to win the title in back-to-back years. Only Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have won it multiple times. But Scheffler finishes the 2025 Regular Season having done almost everything else, with five wins, including two major championships.

“It's a pretty special year,” Scheffler said.