He won the Memorial Tournament by one stroke over Collin Morikawa, despite shooting a 2-over 74 on a difficult day at Muirfield Village.
Only 11 players finished under-par for the week, as Sunday’s final round had a scoring average of 74.93.
The drama unfolded on the 18th, where Scheffler airmailed his 8-iron from the fairway over the green.
Because of the firm conditions, players struggled to find the putting surfaces all day.
Morikawa, trailing by one at the time, did the same from the fairway bunker, which turned things into a chipping contest with the tournament on the line.
Morikawa went first, as his third shot almost went in for a remarkable birdie.
“I don’t know what it looked like on TV, but from my vantage point, it didn’t look like it was too close to going in,” Scheffler said of Morikawa’s third shot on 18.
“I was just trying to stay in my own little world out there and focus on trying to get my ball up and down. I had kind of an iffy lie there in the rough. So as [Morikawa’s] chip was rolling up to the cup, I wasn’t really paying that close of attention to it. I was more just trying to gauge the speed as it went down the hill because I was coming from a pretty similar angle.”
Morikawa was also asked about this shot.
“To be honest, I thought it was breaking right,” Morikawa said.
“Completely whiffed that one and it broke left. But that’s such a tough chip shot. All you had to do was just nestle it on the green. I hit it exactly how I wanted it and you can’t complain when you’re hitting shots like that down the stretch and you’re doing things like that.”
After getting a good read off Morikawa’s shot, Scheffler left his chip about five feet short. It stopped outside Morikawa’s mark, which set the stage for a chance at victory. The World No. 1 then holed the winning putt, thus securing his fifth win of the season.
His first victory of the year came at Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The following week, he won The Players. Then, in April, Scheffler won at Augusta National and Hilton Head for the RBC Heritage in back-to-back weeks again.
And now, Scheffler won the Memorial the week before the U.S. Open. His win at Muirfield Village marks his first career PGA Tour win after the month of April.
“Was it the hardest one this year? I don’t think so. It’s hard to rate the difficulty of wins,” Scheffler said.
“Maybe The Players? I think that would maybe be the hardest just because I was coming off a win, and my neck was bugging me pretty bad that week. But as far as satisfaction at the end of the week, this one’s up there pretty significantly. You know, being at Mr. [Jack] Nicklaus’s golf course and being at a tournament where I’ve had a few close calls in the past, it’s very satisfying to hole that putt on 18 and walk off with a win and shake Mr. Nicklaus’s hand.
“A couple of years ago, I missed a putt that maybe would have been for a playoff, and he told me, ‘You didn’t make the putt today, but one day, ‘you’ll make the putt on 18, and you’ll be walking off to shake my hand.’ So it was pretty special thinking about that as I was walking over to shake his hand today.”
Two years ago, Scheffler finished in solo third at the Memorial, missing out on a playoff between Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay.
But this time, Scheffler got to shake Nicklaus’ hand in victory, which also carries historical significance.
Only one man has won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Players, the Masters, and the Memorial, all in the same year, and it happened in 2001. That, of course, was Tiger Woods, whose 7-shot victory at Muirfield Village that summer marked his fourth win of the season.
As for Sunday’s round, Scheffler did not look like the top player in the world at times. He could not save par out of the bunker on the par-3 4th, which marked his first bogey of the day. Another bogey at the par-3 8th followed as Scheffler could not get up and down from the thick rough beside the green. In between that, though, Scheffler did make a birdie at the par-4 6th.
But that marked his only par-breaker of the day.
“I know Scottie didn’t have his A game on several holes today like a lot of fellas didn’t have their A games on several holes today,” said tournament host Jack Nicklaus.
“But he put enough of his A-game together to win the golf tournament, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Still, Scheffler made plenty of pars, with none bigger than a 25-foot par save on the difficult par-3 16th, which maintained his two-shot advantage.
He also made numerous pars because he missed a few good chances at birdie, specifically on the 12th and 13th holes. He came up empty-handed after two excellent approaches on those two holes.
Nevertheless, on the par-4 17th, Scheffler left his approach in the rough short of the green. He could not save par on back-to-back holes, thus giving him a one-shot lead going into the 18th and ramping up the drama in the process.
But in the end, Scheffler took care of business under pressure, just as Woods did for all those years in his prime.
And best of all, he won for the first time as a father, with his wife Meredith and son Bennett there firsthand to witness it all.
“Watching her be a mom the last month or so has been really special, and I’m so proud of her,” Scheffler said.
“I definitely could not be doing what I do out here on the golf course without her support, and yeah, having Bennett there today to celebrate, even though he has absolutely no clue what’s going on, but it’s fun for us as parents, and so we’ll always be able to look back fondly on this tournament and Benny’s first week out on the road with us.”
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Source: Los Angeles Times
