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DUBLIN, Ohio — Successful has change into a behavior for Scottie Scheffler, besides there was nothing typical about his victory Sunday on the Memorial.
He made just one birdie. He closed with a 2-over 74, his highest ultimate spherical in two years. And victory wasn’t assured till Scheffler had the mettle to place a agency stroke on a downhill putt from 5 toes above the outlet to take out the break.
It went proper within the coronary heart for a 1-shot victory over Collin Morikawa, and a handshake with match host Jack Nicklaus. Their alternate mentioned all of it.
“You are a survivor,” Nicklaus informed him.
“Thanks,” Scheffler mentioned. “Yeah, you made this place brutal at the moment.”
Scheffler endured extra stress than he needed and bought the victory everybody has come to count on, his fifth of the season — one week into the month of June — as he heads for an additional robust check subsequent week within the U.S. Open.
Muirfield Village was so demanding with its ultra-firm greens and swirling gusts all through the afternoon that solely six gamers broke par and the common rating was a fraction beneath 75.
Scheffler, who began 4 pictures forward, by no means misplaced the lead. He by no means felt protected, both, not with Morikawa and Adam Hadwin on his heels all afternoon, and on a again 9 the place making par appeared like exhausting work. Par is what it took on the 18th gap.
“This can be a robust place to shut out,” Scheffler mentioned. “I did not do an entire lot nice at the moment, however I did sufficient.”
Simply barely.
Scheffler was main Morikawa by 1 shot and each hit strategy pictures that bounced exhausting and excessive off the inexperienced and into the tough. Each chipped to about 5 toes. Scheffler buried his putt to win, and the pressure of his fist pump to have a good time confirmed how robust this present day was on him, and virtually everyone.
Making the day much more particular was a latest reminiscence with Nicklaus on the Memorial, and cradling month-old son Bennett at his new child’s first PGA Tour occasion.
Scheffler thought again to 2021, when he missed a 6-foot putt on the ultimate gap that ended any likelihood of a playoff. Strolling off the inexperienced, Scheffler recalled Nicklaus telling him in the future he would make the putt on 18, “and I will be strolling off to shake his hand.”
“It was fairly particular eager about that as I used to be strolling over to shake his hand,” he mentioned.
Morikawa, who performed within the ultimate group of each majors this yr, holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-3 twelfth gap and stayed on Scheffler’s heels the remainder of the way in which. He shot 71, the one one from the ultimate 13 teams to interrupt par.
Hadwin was proper there with them till closing with three straight bogeys for a 74 to complete alone in third.
Scheffler completed at 8-under 280 and received $4 million from this signature occasion and its $20 million purse. That pushes him over $24 million for the yr, breaking the PGA Tour season earnings report that he set final yr on this period of rising purses.
He is the primary participant with 5 wins in a season general since Justin Thomas in 2016-17 (additionally 5). He additionally grew to become the primary participant since Tom Watson in 1980 to have received 5 instances on the PGA Tour earlier than the U.S. Open.
That is subsequent week at Pinehurst No. 2, and Scheffler might be an enormous favourite. This was his eleventh consecutive match with a top-10.
Morikawa picked up $2.2 million and now has an enormous cushion as he tries to stitch up the fourth spot for the People going to the Paris Olympics this summer season.
Hadwin was inside 1 shot of the lead earlier than ending the entrance 9 with a pair of bogeys. He stayed within the hunt till he closed with a pair of bogeys for a 74. Nonetheless, his third-place end strikes him forward of Corey Conners for the second Canadian spot within the Olympics.
The world rating after the U.S. Open determines who goes to Paris.
Scheffler had just one birdie — a 10-foot putt on the sixth gap — and he missed two birdie probabilities inside 10 toes on the again 9 that would have supplied a cushion.
However he made the most important one on the par-3 sixteenth.
Scheffler and Morikawa have been each in need of the super-slick inexperienced some 90 toes away. Scheffler used putter and hit it weakly, developing 15 toes quick. Morikawa chipped from the collar and likewise hit a pedestrian chip some 20 toes quick.
Morikawa missed his par putt, and Scheffler buried his for a 2-shot lead.
Scheffler dropped his ultimate shot on the seventeenth, nevertheless, and he was clinging once more to a 1-shot lead taking part in the robust 18th that he ended with one final putt.
Subsequent up is the so-called hardest check in golf, and gamers felt like they simply bought completed with one at Muirfield Village.
“You would have a look at it considered one of two methods,” Hadwin mentioned. “Both it is good prep for subsequent week or we simply bought our butts kicked earlier than going into subsequent week.”
For Scheffler it is one other victory, his eleventh of his profession on the tour and twelfth worldwide. He has completed robust to win huge or come from behind. He has pulled away when it was tight at the beginning. This time, he practically misplaced a 4-shot lead.
It was his highest closing spherical since a 74 within the British Open at St. Andrews in 2022. Nevertheless it goes within the ebook as one other huge win towards the strongest fields. He now has received three signature occasions (Bay Hill and Hilton Head have been the others) to go together with the Gamers Championship and his second inexperienced jacket on the Masters.
Solely Scheffler and Tiger Woods have received the Memorial, Gamers and Masters in the identical yr.
Info from The Related Press was used on this report.
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