Scottie Scheffler wins Memorial Tournament for fifth win in 8 starts

He won against Arnold Palmer. He won in the home of the PGA Tour. He walked away with a win at Augusta, and a week later he won at Hilton Head.

Scottie Scheffler was already the best golfer in the world, but on Sunday he took that mark even further with a victory at the Memorial Tournament – ​​Jack Nicklaus’ signature event – ​​for his fifth win in eight starts.

On a challenging Muirfield Village course, where only five players played under par Sunday, Scheffler held off the runs of Collin Morikawa and Adam Hadwin to shoot a final-round 74 and beat Morikawa by one stroke.

The win makes Scheffler the first golfer to win five PGA Tour events in a single season since Justin Thomas in 2017, and we’re only in June with two majors and the FedEx Cup Playoffs to go. And all five wins came in signature events: the Masters, the Players Championship, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the RBC Heritage and now the Memorial.

Scheffler entered Sunday with a four-shot lead over Morikawa and the rest of the field. With the course playing so fast and firm, Scheffler played the front nine over par, while Canadian Hadwin made a strong push to get within one shot.

Morikawa also spent much of the back nine within one, but although much of the field dropped back, Scheffler remained steady. Despite missing seven of his first 11 fairways on Sunday, he parried eight straight holes to never lose the lead.

Scheffler even bogeyed the 17th hole, giving Morikawa a chance to get to 18. Scheffler’s approach shot then bounced hard off the green and into the rough, but Morikawa found that same rough behind the pin.

Scheffler had to sink a five-foot putt to win, and he was able to take the victory with an emotional fist pump.

Big win. Big fist pump.

🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/Q6jydEACll

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 9, 2024

The tight finish represents another tough second-place result for Morikawa, the two-time major winner who is having his best season since his 2021 campaign but has fallen short several times. He was in the final duo of both the Masters and PGA Championships this spring, but finished seven and six shots behind the winner in both, respectively.

He also entered the RBC Heritage on Sunday two behind Scheffler, but finished six back.

Scheffler is currently a 3-to-1 betting favorite at next week’s US Open at Pinehurst, as he is becoming the sport’s biggest favorite since Tiger Woods’ heyday in 2010.

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(Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)