It doesn’t have to be easy for it to be rewarding for Scottie Scheffler.
He won another tournament and solidified his No. 1 world ranking by shooting 2-over-par 74 on Sunday to win the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio.
“The golf course was playing so tough today, so firm, so fast,” Scheffler said. “It was a fun test of golf. It was good to battle it out. I didn’t really do a whole lot great today, but I did enough.”
Scheffler held on to the lead despite challenges in tough final-round scoring conditions at Muirfield Village Golf Club. His 8-under 280 tournament total was good for a one-shot advantage on Collin Morikawa, who posted 71 on Sunday.
It’s Scheffler’s fifth PGA Tour win this year, all since the beginning of March. The tournaments he has won are a sampling of the most prestigious on the PGA Tour: the Masters, the Players Championship and three signature events.
This one came in a tournament with legendary Jack Nicklaus the host.
“I remember shaking Mr. Nicklaus’ hand a few years ago,” Scheffler said. “It’s a pretty surreal moment to be able to shake his hand as a winner here.”
The 27-year-old Texan will be one of the favorites at the U.S. Open this coming week at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina.
Canada’s Adam Hadwin shot 74 and ended up in third place at 4 under, followed by South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout (72) at 3 under.
Scheffler didn’t have to do anything spectacular in the final round, which began with him owning a four-stroke lead. After a bogey on No. 8, he scored pars on the next eight holes before a bogey on No. 17.
Scheffler and Morikawa, playing in the final pairing, went to the final hole with only one shot separating them. Both hit their second shots over the green, and Morikawa’s attempt to chip in for birdie from 45 feet away barely skated past, allowing Scheffler to make par to win.
“It’s pretty amazing I feel like I’ve had some close calls in this tournament,” Scheffler said. “This is a tough place to close out.”
Earlier, Scheffler had a chance to stretch a one-shot lead on the 15th, but his putt for birdie clipped the cup and the ball stayed out.
Morikawa was within one stroke until his third bogey of the round came on No. 16, when he was off the green after his first swing on the par-3 hole.
On the 17th, Scheffler was greenside after two shots on the par-4 hole, but he left his entry to the green considerably short of the hole and didn’t convert the par putt.
It certainly has been an eventful stretch of several weeks for Scheffler, who was involved in the altercation with Louisville police upon trying to arrive for his second-round tee time at the PGA Championship.
Now, he’s a tournament champion for the first time since becoming a father shortly after winning the Masters and RBC Heritage on back-to-back weeks in April.
Morikawa was pleased to be contending during the tournament’s final day.
“A lot of it has been talking through it, going through the process, thinking through things,” Morikawa said. “Obviously it’s been very, very helpful over these past couple months.”
Hadwin closed within one of Scheffler on the front side by birdieing three of his first seven holes, including a chip-in at No. 1. He carded five bogeys the rest of the way.
Sunday’s only sub-70 rounds were turned in by England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo, both with 3-under 69s. Fitzpatrick, with birdies on three of the last five holes, tied for fifth at 2 under with Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg (74) and Austria’s Sepp Straka (76). Grillo was at 5 over and tied for 27th.
Defending champion Viktor Hovland of Norway had slightly recovered from Saturday’s 77, posting 75 to finish at 2 over and tied for 15th.
–Field Level Media
