Death, taxes and Scottie Scheffler closing out a golf tournament after having a 54-hole lead. On Sunday, Scheffler proved that notion again and earned the right to shake Jack Nicklaus’ hand for the second straight year by winning the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. It’s the world No. 1’s 16th win on the PGA Tour and third in his last four starts.
“Overall it was a great week and I’m definitely proud to be shaking Mr. Nicklaus’ hand at the end of another good week,” Scheffler said.
Scheffler finished at 10-under 278 (70-70-68-70) to win the PGA Tour’s penultimate signature event of the season by four strokes over Ben Griffin. He’s the first to successfully defend the Memorial title since Tiger Woods won three years in a row from 1999-2001. In Scheffler’s last seven events when leading or co-leading after 54 holes, he’s won all seven.
The turning point came during the third round. Griffin’s birdies on Nos. 6-8 got him to 10-under while Scheffler was at 4-under. After 13 straight pars, Scheffler birdied four of his last five holes while Griffin played his remaining 10 holes 3-over to give Scheffler the lead going into the final day.
“I felt like I was starting to separate myself midway through and then kind of got to some tough holes and didn't execute very well,” Griffin said after the third round. “You can do that out here.”
On Sunday, Scheffler made the turn two strokes ahead of Griffin before making his first bogey in 31 holes on the 10th, reducing his lead to one. However, a bounce-back 14-footer for birdie on the 11th, coupled with Griffin missing a short birdie putt, restored the two-stroke lead.
Griffin bogeys on 12 and 13 expanded Scheffler’s lead to four and hindered Griffin’s chance at a comeback despite an eagle-birdie combo on 15 and 16 to get back within two before a double on 17 made it easy on Scheffler.
Rickie Fowler’s T7 finish qualified him for the Open Championship at Royal Portrush via the Open Qualifying Series.
“It’s so challenging to play this tournament,” Scheffler said. “I battled really hard over the weekend and Ben made things interesting there down the stretch.”
Despite his difficult final 27 holes, Griffin continued a solid year in which he has earned his first two PGA Tour victories. His runner-up finish at the Memorial is his best finish in the event after missing the cut the previous two years.
Sepp Straka, a two-time PGA Tour winner this year, finished third, his fifth top-10 of the year.
Rickie Fowler’s T7 finish qualified him for the Open Championship at Royal Portrush via the Open Qualifying Series. He was the leading player in the field not already exempt for the major.
“This week still could have been a lot better, but a definite positive is going over to Portrush,” Fowler said. “That’s one I’ve wanted on the schedule.”
The PGA Tour returns next week for the RBC Canadian Open before heading to Oakmont for the U.S. Open the following week.
Everett Munez