The PGA Tour is wrapping up its annual visit to Muirfield Golf Village (a.k.a. Jack’s Place) for the Memorial Tournament. Stop me if you have heard this before, Scottie Scheffler takes the lead into the final round. But there is a host of household names following closely behind hoping to steal one from Scheffler.
With the U.S. Open only a few days away, you usually don’t see many big-name players in the tournament the week prior to a Major Championship. But with the introduction of elevated events, it incentivizes the world’s best players to participate no matter what event is being played the following week. The PGA Tour implemented these signature events this season, and while they consist of smaller fields, they boast bigger purses. The top 50 players from the 2023 FedEx Cup Standings earned exemptions into each of the eight Signature Events of 2024 (The Sentry at The Plantation Course at Kapalua, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge, RBC Heritage at Harbour Town, Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club, Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands and, of course, The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club), while the other 20 to 25 spots are determined via exemptions and other qualifying criteria, such as the Aon Next 10 and the Aon Swing 5. Those two metrics fill out the fields based on who has played well this season.
One look at the leaderboard will excite even the most mundane of golf fans with names like Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Colin Morikawa, Tony Finau, Viktor Hovland and Sepp Straka rounding out the top 15. But all of these guys will have their hands full trying to chase down Scottie Scheffler, who is seemingly immune to mistakes. Scheffler, who has dealt with putting woes in the past, switched over to a different style of putter at the suggestion of fellow major champion, Rory McIlroy, a few months back. Scottie, who was leading the tour in almost every category but putting, switched from a blade putter to a mallet putter. The mallet offers more stability and weight, and also offers a different look, which is sometimes all a player needs. It was like giving Barry Bonds an aluminum bat. Since then, Scheffler has rattled off win after win after win (four this season, to be exact). If not for his arrest the morning of the second round at the PGA Championship, we may be talking about a potential Grand Slam (when a player wins all four majors in the same season), which has only been done once by Bobby Jones in 1930.
Colin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler will make up the final pairing today, and it is Scottie’s tournament to lose. With a four stroke difference between Scottie and three other players in second, Scottie will have to play uncharacteristically poor to open the door. But Jack’s place can bring the best player to his knees, so it should be an exciting final round. Coverage can be found on CBS at 1:30 CT.
Comments