Scottie Scheffler has made winning his habit, but his triumph on Sunday at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday was anything from ordinary.
He only managed one birdie. His closing round of 2-over 74 was his best in the last two years. And Scheffler’s triumph wasn’t certain until he demonstrated his resolve by making a solid putt from five feet over the hole to win the break.
With a one-shot triumph against Collin Morikawa and a handshake with event host Jack Nicklaus, it went straight to the heart. Their handshake was rather telling.
“You’re a survivor.”Nicklaus teased him.
“Regards. You did really make this location quite nasty today.”Scheffler replied.
One week into June and ahead of another challenging test the following week at the U.S. Open, Scheffler underwent more stress than he would have liked but still managed to secure the win that everyone has come to expect , his fifth of the season.
With its extremely firm greens and winds that swirled throughout the day, Muirfield Village was so difficult to play that only six players broke par, and the average score was just around 75.
Scheffler led from the beginning by four strokes and never let up. Even with Morikawa and Adam Hadwin chasing him all day and a back nine when just being in the hunt felt like a lot of work, he never felt comfortable. On the 18th hole, par was the score it took.
It’s difficult to close out here. I performed adequately today even if I didn’t do all that well.
He won just narrowly.
Both Scheffler and Morikawa fired approach shots that bounced high and hard off the green and into the rough, with Scheffler leading Morikawa by one shot. Each chipped out to around five feet. When Scheffler made his putt to win, the intensity with which he pumped his fist in celebration demonstrated how difficult this day had been for him and almost everyone else.
The day was made even more memorable by a recent recollection of holding month-old Bennett during his first PGA TOUR tournament and spending time with Nicklaus at the Memorial.
Scheffler reflected about his missed 6-foot putt on the last hole in 2021, which eliminated any possibility of a postseason. He remembers Nicklaus telling him as he was leaving the green that one day Scheffler would make the putt on number 18, “and I’ll be walking off to shake his hand.”
“As I walked over to shake his hand, it was pretty special thinking about that,” he remarked.
At the 12th par-3 hole, Morikawa, who was in the last group of both majors this year, made a 30-foot birdie putt and trailed Scheffler the entire way. Out of the last 13 groups, he was the only one to shoot below par with a 71.
Up until the very end, when he closed with three consecutive bogeys for a 74 to tie for third place, Adam Hadwin was right there with them.
In addition, he made history by being the first player to win five times on the PGA TOUR prior to the U.S. Open since Tom Watson in 1980.
Scheffler will enter the U.S. Open as a heavy favorite. That takes place at Pinehurst No. 2 the following week. His 11th straight event in the top 10 was this one.
With $2.2 million under his belt, Morikawa will have plenty room to maneuver as he attempts to secure the fourth position for the American team competing in the summer Olympics in Paris.
Before concluding the front nine with two bogeys, Hadwin was within one stroke of the lead. He continued to pursue the lead until finishing with two bogeys for a 74. Nevertheless, he advances above Corey Conners to take the second Canadian slot in the Olympics with his third-place performance.
After the U.S. Open, the Official World Golf Ranking decides who advances to Paris.
Scheffler’s sole birdie on the sixth hole was a 10-foot putt, and on the back nine, he lost two birdie opportunities that could have given him a cushion.
However, he hit the largest one on the 16-hole par-3.
At about ninety feet from them, Scheffler and Morikawa were both short of the extremely slippery green. Scheffler took a putter and shot it terribly, missing the mark by fifteen feet. In addition to chipping from the collar, Morikawa also struck a pedestrian chip around 20 feet away.
Scheffler sunk his par putt to take a two-shot lead after Morikawa missed his.
But after missing his last putt on the 17th, Scheffler found himself struggling to maintain his one-shot lead while playing the difficult 18th hole.
The supposedly hardest test in golf is up next, and at Muirfield Village, golfers felt like they had already finished one.
“There are two ways you may look at this. We either got our asses kicked before starting next week, or it’s a nice warm-up for it.” Hadwin mentioned.
This is Scheffler’s eleventh career triumph and his twelfth overall. He has come from behind or won large thanks to a powerful finish. When things were tough at first, he withdrew. He almost lost a four-shot lead this time.
His best final round since 2022’s 74 at St. Andrews at The Open Championship was this one. However, it passes as yet another significant victory over the most formidable grounds. Together with THE PLAYERS Championship and his second green jacket at the Masters, he has now won three Signature Events (the other two being Bay Hill and Hilton Head).
