DUBLIN, Ohio — Scottie Scheffler by no means misplaced the lead and by no means gave anybody a lot of an opportunity down the stretch Sunday in one other relentless efficiency, closing with a 2-under 70 for a four-shot victory to hitch Tiger Woods as the one repeat winners of the Memorial.
Slowed by hand surgical procedure at first of the 12 months from a freak accident, Scheffler seems to be in full stride with one main already within the bag and one other across the nook on the U.S. Open.
“It’s always a hard week,” stated Scheffler, who completed at 10-under 278. “We battled really hard on the weekend. Overall it was a great week.”
On one of many more durable PGA Tour assessments of the 12 months, Scheffler made one bogey over the ultimate 40 holes at Muirfield Village.
“Well, you did it again,” match host Jack Nicklaus informed him strolling off the inexperienced.
Ben Griffin tried to make it fascinating on the finish with a 12-foot eagle on the par-5 fifteenth and a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 sixteenth to shut inside two pictures with two to play. Scheffler, nonetheless, doesn’t make errors. Griffin made double bogey on the seventeenth.
Griffin made a 4-foot par on the 18th for a 73 to complete alone in second, value $2.2 million, greater than what he earned when he gained at Colonial final week.
Sepp Straka (70) completed one other shot again.
“You know Scottie’s probably going to play a good round of golf. The guy’s relentless. He loves competition, and he doesn’t like giving up shots,” Straka stated. “But it’s one of those courses where it can always happen, so you got to be prepared for it. I felt like I gave myself a lot of chances to kind of make a push.”
Scheffler now has gained thrice in his final 4 begins — the exception was Colonial, a tie for fourth the week after successful the PGA Championship — and expanded his margin at No. 1 on the earth to ranges not seen since Woods in his peak years.
Woods is a five-time winner at Memorial who gained three straight from 1999 via 2001. Nobody had repeated at Muirfield Village since then till Scheffler.
His performances these days look much more like Nicklaus the way in which he wears down the sector by not often getting out of place.
Rickie Fowler had his first prime 10 of the 12 months at simply the appropriate time.
He made par on the 18th to tie for seventh, incomes him a spot within the British Open. Fowler tied with Brandt Snedeker at 1-under 287, however will get the one Open exemption out there primarily based on the next world rating — Fowler at No. 124, Snedeker at No. 430.
“That’s one I’ve wanted on the schedule,” stated Fowler, who faces a 36-hole qualifier for the U.S. Open on Monday.
Each acquired sponsor exemptions to the Memorial, a signature occasion on the PGA Tour.
For Scheffler, it was his fifth victory in a $20 million signature occasion within the final two years. This one seemed inevitable, however solely after a fast growth early on the again 9.
Scheffler ended 31 holes with out a bogey at robust Muirfield Village on the tenth gap, dropping his result in one shot. Griffin had 4 toes for birdie on the par-5 eleventh. Scheffler made his 15-foot birdie putt and Griffin missed.
Griffin bogeyed the subsequent two holes, and similar to that, Scheffler was 4 pictures forward. That’s the way it was on the PGA Championship — tight one minute, a blowout the subsequent, and the sweetest stroll towards the 18th inexperienced with victory safe.
This one led to a handshake with Nicklaus, who had stated earlier within the week of Scheffler, “He plays a lot like I did.”
Nicklaus stated he was all about fairways and greens, having loads of probabilities and making sufficient of them to submit a rating. That’s the Scheffler method, too, even when it didn’t all the time look that method at first of the ultimate spherical.
With mud on the golf ball within the first fairway, an excessive amount of spin on quick irons on the subsequent few holes, Scheffler didn’t have a birdie putt till the fifth gap. He saved par seven occasions within the last spherical, together with the ultimate gap.
