Scottie Scheffler on the cusp of breaking a PGA Tour mark Tiger Woods has held for 26 years

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Scottie Scheffler is on the cusp of a PGA Tour record Tiger Woods has held for more than 26 years, one that means next to nothing to the world's No. 1 player because of so many factors in play.

Scheffler is coming off his 21st career PGA Tour victory, all in the last five years. Last week's win was worth $3.6 million, the fifth time this year he has earned $2 million or more. That brought him to within $1,034,756 of surpassing Woods on the career earnings list.

He could do that with a three-way tie for third in the BMW Championship. Just don't look for any sparkling wine, much less a celebration. Prize money began to soar because of Woods, and it spiked with the arrival of LIV Golf. It was a matter of time.

Besides, that's not the way Scheffler keeps score.

“That has a lot to do with the purses and all that,” Scheffler said Wednesday. “I'm not really too close to him in terms of career wins. What am I, like a fourth of the way there?”

Close enough. Woods is at 82 wins, tied for the all-time record with Sam Snead.

Money topics at Bellerive Country Club, hosting the BMW Championship for the first time since 2008, is all about 30 players trying to get to East Lake to play for a $40 million purse — $10 million for the winner — and the FedEx Cup.

That's not a concern for Scheffler, either, or for the likes of Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young, Rory McIlroy and a host of others who were among the top 50 in the FedEx Cup to advance to the second FedEx Cup playoffs event.

But it is to Gary Woodland, still recovering from brain surgery and at No. 31 with a chance to reach the Tour Championship for the first time in six years. And it is to 46-year-old Adam Scott, the only player in the field who was at Bellerive for the last BMW Championship.

Getting to East Lake all but assures a spot in all four majors. That's a big perk, along with the chance to win a $10 million payoff.

“Making the Tour Championship has always been important,” Scott said. “It’s always been a marker of your performance throughout the year.”

There's a little more at stake for a short list of players — Scheffler, Fitzpatrick, Young, perhaps even McIlroy. No one has really stood out as PGA Tour player of the year. Scheffler moved to the front with his eight-shot win at the FedEx St. Jude Championship last week. It's only his second win this year, but it goes along with five runner-up finishes and five other top 4s.

Scheffler has played so well he already is guaranteed the $23 million bonus for leading the FedEx Cup through the BMW Championship. That doesn't count toward official earnings.

That number stands at $119,964,411. Perhaps another testament to changing times is that Woods earned his last official paycheck in the 2024 Masters ($44,000), moving his total to $120,999,166. Scheffler won the Masters that year and moved to No. 12 at $57,658,464.

So he has made just over $62.3 million in his last 48 tour starts over two years and four months. Great golf. Big money. It was a matter of time.

And it really doesn't matter to Scheffler.

“Tiger did a lot for the game of golf and he put us in a position where we’re able to earn some pretty good stuff financially, so that’s something we’re very grateful for,” Scheffler said. “When you look at where the purses were at before he came out on tour to where they’re at now is a pretty stark difference. And we’re very thankful for his contributions to the game and hopefully we’ll see him back out here competing again soon.”

Scheffler's first PGA Tour check was $25,080 for a tie for 43rd at the 2018 St. Jude Classic. Last place at the BMW Championship this week pays $66,000.

The testament to Woods is how long he kept his name atop the career money list.

He took over for Davis Love III — Love was at the top for all of two weeks — when Woods tied for second in the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines (total purse was $3 million) on Feb. 13, 2000. Six players in the BMW Championship field weren't even born then.

Talk of money took Scheffler back to his early days of grinding. He had financial freedom with an endorsement deal he signed with Nike, so there was no concern on entry fees in Monday qualifiers or even gas money to get there. But those were fun times to him.

“Just trying to find my place in the game,” Scheffler said.

See AP’s full golf coverage here

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, tees off on the seventh hole during the second round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Cameron Young walks to the nineth green during the first round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Scottie Scheffler holds the winning trophy after the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Scottie Scheffler hits from the 12th tee during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — The judge who presided over Texas teenager Karmelo Anthony's murder conviction was removed from the case Wednesday ahead of a key hearing to decide whether to grant a new trial in the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old athlete at a high school track meet.

The removal was a legal victory for Anthony, now 19, whose attorneys wanted the judge off the case following the June trial, in part because of a TV interview in which the judge said jurors “got it right” when they delivered a guilty verdict in the killing of Austin Metcalf.

Anthony, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison, wore a green prison jumpsuit in a suburban Dallas courtroom when a visiting judge ordered state District Judge John Roach's recusal. Judge Michael Chitty was later assigned to the case.

Outside the courtroom in McKinney, cheers erupted in the hallway while some Anthony supporters chanted “Free Karmelo!” in the parking lot.

“Today’s ruling answers a fundamental question: whether a reasonable fully informed observer would see Judge Roach’s conduct and believe that he could fairly and impartially consider a motion for new trial,” Anthony’s lawyers said in a statement.

On Thursday, Anthony was expected back in court for a hearing that will determine whether a retrial is warranted.

Jurors this summer had rejected Anthony's claims of self-defense during a confrontation with Metcalf in the stadium bleachers last year. Anthony did not testify during the trial. Other students who took the stand described a heated exchange over Anthony’s refusal on a rainy spring day to leave a tent that belonged to Metcalf’s team.

The case attracted national attention in part because of a flood of social media posts that amplified the killing in racial terms. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Lawyers on both sides, however, told jurors the tragedy had nothing to do with race.

Anthony’s legal team has argued that a retrial is needed, in part, because Roach enforced strict courtroom rules that they said limited the public's access to the proceedings. They also zeroed in on comments Roach made to a Dallas TV station after the trial ended.

In the interview, which was played as Wednesday's hearing began, Roach was asked if the jury got “it right.”

“Yeah, they did,” Roach said, adding: “Whatever they say, they got it right.”

During the interview, Roach also defended his courtroom rules and spoke about the onslaught of online postings about the case.

Visiting Judge Sid Harle said he did not know Roach and he believed Roach would be fair in a hearing for a retrial, but was granting the defense's request for a recusal because of how it might look to others. In his written order, Harle said the evidence was such that the judge's “impartiality might reasonably be questioned” and ordered another judge to “preside over all further proceedings.”

Roach did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the ruling.

Prosecutor Bill Wirskye had urged the court to keep Roach. He said the judge “didn’t do anything wrong” and that his courtroom rules were meant to protect the integrity of the trial, which brought demonstrators outside the courthouse. Wirskye did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the ruling.

As national attention on the killing intensified last year, the families of both Metcalf and Anthony said they had been targets of harassment.

“We were all getting death threats,” Wirskye said.

Several schools were competing when Anthony sat under the Memorial High School tent that was perched in the bleachers. Metcalf and others had repeatedly told Anthony to leave, witnesses testified, leading to an escalating confrontation.

Prosecutors said Anthony provoked Metcalf, and witnesses testified that Anthony was the aggressor.

Anthony at one point reached inside a bag and replied: “Touch me and see what happens,” according to a police report.

Metcalf pushed Anthony, according to witnesses, who said Anthony then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest.

Associated Press writer Jim Vertuno contributed to this report from Austin.

This booking photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, shows Karmelo Anthony. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)

FILE - A courtroom sketch provided by Pat Lopez shows Karmelo Anthony, center, at the defense table, the jury on the left and the presiding judge on the right, June 4, 2026, in McKinney, Texas, during the trial of a teen accused of fatally stabbing another during a track meet in suburban Dallas last year. (Pat Lopez via AP, File)