A healthy Scottie Scheffler is also hungry to close out the PGA Tour season with another FedEx Cup title

ATLANTA — Scottie Scheffler at far less than 100 percent healthy still finished T-12 Sunday at the BMW Championship. Now close to fully recovered from hand, foot and mouth disease, Scheffler is likely to display more of the game that enabled him to win the FedEx St. Jude Championship two weeks ago by a season-high eight strokes.

“I'd say I'm at like 95 percent [healthy],” Scheffler said Wednesday from the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. "The only thing maybe [is] just still a couple of sores in my throat. But other than that, I feel really good.”

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common viral illness that typically affects children 5 and younger, although adults can contract it. Symptoms include fever, sore throat and painful lesions in the mouth and blisters on hands and feet. Scheffler, who has two young sons, came down with the condition the day after his St. Jude victory in Memphis. He was advised by a doctor to withdraw from the BMW Championship, the second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, but he decided to stick it out despite blisters on his hands making it difficult for him to grip his clubs.

Scheffler, 30, said having his wife Meredith and their sons with him on the road is challenging. He is reminded by peers, though, specifically Brian Harman, that it’s also the most rewarding time before they start school and are restricted in their ability to travel.

"I think it's always a balancing act,” Scheffler said. “I'm at a point in my life where, yeah, it's really hard having two young kids and taking care of them. I think anyone with young kids can relate; you're just tired literally all the time.

“I think you want to enjoy the season because eventually my kids aren't going to be able to be out here,” Scheffler said. “Harman is somebody I talk a lot about this with. He's like, ‘Man, I'm jealous of you guys who get to travel every week with your kids.’ You take the good with the bad. Part of it is hard, but part of it is you’ve got to also enjoy it because it doesn’t last.”

Ranked No. 1 in the world, Scheffler seeks his third win of the season and his second FedEx Cup title. He left the BMW Championship as the top-ranked player in the FedEx Cup points standings to earn a bonus of $23 million. A victory in the $40 million Tour Championship certainly would end any debate about the most worthy candidate for the Jack Nicklaus Award as PGA Tour Player of the Year, though the Texas native already is believed to be the favorite with a season of unparalleled consistency that features 12 top-five finishes, including five runners-up.

Gary Woodland, who like Scheffler is coached by Randy Smith, knows how good Scheffler is by playing money games with him in Dallas. Stakes are usually $100 per hole. “I've had to go to the ATM a couple times playing him in Dallas,” said Woodland, in the Tour Championship for the first time since 2019. “Trust me, I'm surprised he hasn't said it. He likes to remind me of it.”

What Woodland saw Scheffler accomplish last week in St. Louis reminded him yet again of how good his friend is with a club in his hands, even if he can’t grip it properly.

“We all knew he was battling it,” said the former U.S. Open winner. “He has got blisters on his hands and is trying to grip the club. That just shows you how dang good he is to show up and finish 12th or however he finished last week. It's impressive.”

For Scheffler, it’s just a reflection of how he is wired.

“I think for me one thing I've learned over the course of my career is just bringing a certain type of intensity to each round,” he said. “I think that's something that's a lot easier said than done. I was born being competitive, and I love being able to compete and play out here, and it's something I don't take for granted.”