Scottie Scheffler holds on to take home the Memorial to earn his fifth PGA Tour title of the year

The winning habit has developed to Scottie Scheffler, but there was nothing unusual in his win on Sunday during the Memorial.

The Associated Press
10/06/2024

The winning habit has developed to Scottie Scheffler, but there was nothing unusual in his win on Sunday during the Memorial.

He managed just one birdie. He finished with a 2-over 74, which was his best final round in the last two years. But the victory wasn’t guaranteed until Scheffler was able to strike a strong stroke on a putt downhill at 5 feet over the hole, to break the break.

It was right in the heart, resulting in an unbeatable victory against Collin Morikawa, and a handshake with the tournament’s hosts Jack Nicklaus. The exchange was the best part of it.

“You’re a survivor,” Nicklaus said to him.

“Thanks,” Scheffler said. “Yeah, you made this place brutal today.”

Scheffler faced more pressure than he anticipated and walked away with the win everyone came to expect. This is his fifth victory of the year — just one week into June. He prepares for a second tough challenge next week at the U.S. Open.

Muirfield Village was so demanding due to its extremely firm greens and soaring gusts throughout the day that just Six players made par, and an average of just a little under 75.

Scheffler who started at four-shots clear, never relinquished the lead. He was never secure neither, having Morikawa along with Adam Hadwin on his heels throughout the afternoon, and on the back nine, getting par felt like hard work. Par was what he needed for the hole on 18th.

“This is a tough place to close out,” Scheffler told reporters. “I didn’t do a whole lot great today, but I did enough.”

Only barely.

Scheffler was ahead of Morikawa by one shot. They both made approaches that bounced high and hard off the green before crashing in the rough. Both hit chips to 5 feet. Scheffler placed his putt in the hole to win and the strength of his fist to celebrate proved how hard the event was on Scheffler, and pretty much everyone else.

The day was made more memorable was a recent memory of Nicklaus in the Memorial as well as cradling his baby son Bennett in his debut PGA Tour event.

Scheffler recalled 2021, the year he missed an 18-foot putt on the hole’s final hole, which put him out of winning a tournament. As he walked off the green, Scheffler recalled Nicklaus telling him that one day Scheffler would hit his putt at 18 “and I’ll be walking off to shake his hand.”

“It was pretty special thinking about that as I was walking over to shake his hand,” he added.

Morikawa who was in the final round of both majors in the year He sank a 30-foot birdie shot on the par-3 12th hole. He kept Scheffler on his heels for the remainder of the round. Morikawa shot 71, the only player from the final 13 groups that broke par.

Adam Hadwin was right there along with them, until they closed with three straight bogeys, resulting in a 74 and he finished in third place.

Scheffler completed the round at 8-under 280, and he took home $4 million from the prestigious event, along with its purse of $20 million. This puts him at over $24 million in the past year, surpassing records. PGA Tour season earnings record even though it’s only June. He broke the record he did last year in the time of increasing the purses.

He also became the first golfer after Tom Watson in 1980 to win five times during the PGA Tour before the U.S. Open.

It’s next week at Pinehurst No. 2. Scheffler will play in the U.S. Open as a big fan favorite. This is his 11th consecutive win with a top 10 finish.

Morikawa took home $2.2 million, and has a large cushion in the Japanese man tries to get the fourth spot for Americans who will be heading for Paris this summer to compete in the Olympics.

Hadwin was one shot of leading the field until finishing the first nine holes with two holes that he bogeyed. He was in contention until the end, when he made two bogeys, which resulted in the 74th time in the tournament. But, his third-place finishing puts him ahead Corey Conners for the second Canadian position at the Olympics.

The world ranking following the U.S. Open determines who gets to Paris.

Scheffler made just one birdie, an eight-foot putt at the hole on his sixthand missed two birdie opportunities within of 10 yards on the ninth, which could have created an opportunity to cushion.

However, he scored the best shot on par-3 at the 16th.

Scheffler and Morikawa both came far from the super slick green about ninety feet from. Scheffler played putter and hit it poorly and ended up just 15ft short. Morikawa chipped off the collar, and hit the chip of a pedestrian about 20 feet away.

Morikawa failed to make his par putt, but Scheffler missed his to give himself a lead of two shots.

Scheffler missed his last hole on 17th however, the golfer was still clinging to one-shot advantage on the difficult 18th, which concluded with one final putt.

The next test is the most difficult test on golf The players felt as if they were just finished with an exam on the course at Muirfield Village.

“You could look at it one of two ways,” Hadwin stated. “Either it’s good prep for next week or we just got our butts kicked before going into next week.”

For Scheffler it’s a second win the 11th time in his career, and 12th overall. He’s been strong and has the ability to be able to come back from behind. He has pulled away from the lead when it was tight in the beginning. He nearly lost the lead of four shots.

This was his most impressive finishing round in the last year since his 74 at his last round at the British Open at St. Andrews in 2022. It’s into the record as another huge win against one of the best fields. He has now been a winner of three major tournaments (Bay Hill, and Hilton Head were the others) in addition to The Players Championship and his second green jacket at the Masters.