Scottie Scheffler gives reporter daggers before the penny drops: "Genius"

World number one Scottie Scheffler was asked to 'rank' his latest PGA Tour victory in the immediate aftermath of his triumph at the Tour Championship. 

That doesn't sound like an unusual question for Scheffler to be asked given his 2024 yielded seven PGA Tour wins, his second Masters title and an Olympic gold medal. 

But being asked to 'rank' his and others' achievements has been annoying Scheffler over the last few weeks. 

Primarily, because he has been asked repeatedly whether he or Xander Schauffele deserves to be crowned the player of the year.

Both players have been otherworldly on the course this season.

Related: 

• Scheffler hits back at 'stupid' shank question

Scheffler asked before the season finale at East Lake: "Can't we just enjoy some of the great golf that's been played this year?"

The 28-year-old implored media to stop focusing on the comparisons. 

Scheffler cruised to victory at East Lake, despite hitting a memorable shank in the final round, and spoke to reporters on Sunday evening. 

The first question was from Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press. 

Ferguson asked: "How do you rank this win?"

For a brief moment, Scheffler's face dropped. 

"I'm just kidding," Ferguson said. Scheffler responded: "Genius."

But in all seriousness, how hard was it to get over the line?

Scheffler said: "I tried my best to just stay in the present this week, and I feel like I did a really good job of that.

"In terms of the lead, it's unusual playing this many rounds of a tournament with a lead, especially a seven-shot lead after the first round is something that I will probably never have at any other tournament besides this one.

"So it's definitely a bit of a different feeling. I feel like sometimes this tournament lasts longer than other tournaments. 

"I don't know why. But it just -- like I'm exhausted right now. There's really no other way around it. I'm just really, really tired."

"It leaves a bad taste in your mouth"

Scheffler has been crowned the player of the year for the last two years running despite not winning the FedEx Cup. 

Viktor Hovland obliterated the competition in 2023 and the year prior Rory McIlroy outshone Scheffler. 

Scheffler told reporters that not winning at East Lake has frustrated him. 

"I've been the player of the year for the Tour the last two years and I haven't left with this trophy," Scheffler said.  

"It definitely, I think, leaves a bad taste in your mouth at the end of the year, especially when I start with the lead.

"Granted, it's not a huge lead, but you're starting the tournament ahead of people. You should win the tournament if I'm starting ahead of people. That's how I feel. 

"So maybe the last couple years I've put too much pressure on myself to perform or whatever it is, but this year I did a good job of just staying in it mentally and keeping my head down and just had a really good week and was able to finish it off the right way."

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