Scottie Scheffler surprised no one by winning The Memorial Tournament yesterday by one stroke. Scheffler battled tough conditions and a charging Colin Morikawa to win his fifth event of the season, putting him in rarified air with Tiger Woods as the only other player to win The Masters, The Players and The Memorial in the same season.
Muirfield Village GC played gradually tougher as the week progressed with the rough growing thicker by the day, and the greens getting faster by the hour. Only a handful of players found themselves in negative figures on Sunday, one of those being Colin Morikawa. Morikawa, who was thrust into the final pairing Sunday thanks to an Adam Hadwin bogey on the final hole Saturday, needed a subpar round and Scheffler to scuffle to have a chance. On the par 3 sixteenth hole, Morikawa got his chance. With both players ending up short of the green, Scheffler left his second shot about 20 feet short of the cup, leaving himself a daunting par putt. If Morikawa could have put his own second shot inside of Scheffler’s, it would have put the pressure on Scottie to make a very difficult putt. Instead, Morikawa hit a poor second shot that left him away and gave Scheffler the blueprint to his par putt. Morikawa missed his putt for par on the high side of the hole, which showed Scheffler there was less break in the putt than it seemed. Scheffler drained his putt to remain at -9, a two-stroke lead. Things would tighten up again as Scheffler missed an uphill putt for par on 17, while Morikawa made a knee-knocker to save par and cut the deficit to one stroke. On the 18th green, Morikawa hit a chip from behind the green that looked like it was destined for the bottom of the cup but turned left at the last second and settled five feet below the hole. All Scottie had to do was get up and down for par to win, and he did just that.
It was closer than Scheffler would have liked, but he carries even more momentum into the U.S. Open which tees of this week at Pinehurst. Scottie comes in at +450 to win.
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