World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler claimed his 16th career PGA TOUR title with a dominant defence of his Memorial Tournament title in Columbus, Ohio.
The American came into the final round at Muirfield Village with a one-shot advantage and never let go of his position at the summit of the leaderboard as birdies at the 7th, 11th, and 15th only helped extend the American’s advantage. Fellow countryman Ben Griffin brought himself into serious contention after a birdie at the 16th helped him move within a shot of Scheffler. However, his bid to earn back-to-back PGA TOUR victories faltered swiftly afterwards when he double-bogeyed the 17th. Scheffler only dropped one shot throughout the whole of Sunday on his way to carding a two-under 70 to close on 10 under, defeating last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge winner by four shots.
This is Scheffler’s third victory of the season following his triumphs at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and the PGA Championship as he continues his fine form with the U.S. Open on the horizon.
He has also become the only player alongside Tiger Woods to successfully retain the Memorial Tournament crown, a feat the 15-time major winner achieved between 1999-2001.
“It’s pretty cool,” Scheffler said. “It’s always a hard week. It’s so challenging to play this tournament. Ben made things interesting down the stretch. Overall, it was a great week.”
Austria’s Sepp Straka finished in third on 5 under and heaped praise on the World No. 1 following his victory.
“You know Scottie’s probably going to play a good round of golf. The guy’s relentless,” Straka said. “He loves competition, and he doesn’t like giving up shots.”
Canada’s Nick Taylor ended the tournament in fourth on 4 under while there was a tie for fifth between American duo Maverick McNealy and Russell Henley.
What is the next event?
The next event on the PGA TOUR schedule is the RBC Canadian Open taking place between 5-8 June at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley.