Scottie Scheffler continued his impressive run as he held on to win his 5th PGA Tour title of the year at the Memorial on Sunday.
He closed with a 2-over 74, his highest final round in two years. Although victory wasn’t certain at a point, he put a firm stroke on a downhill putt from 5 feet above the hole to take out the break.
It went right in the heart for a one-shot victory over Collin Morikawa, and a handshake with tournament host Jack Nicklaus.
“You’re a survivor,” Nicklaus told him.
“Thanks,” Scheffler said. “Yeah, you made this place brutal today.”
This is Scheffler 5th victory of the season, as he heads for another tough test next week in the U.S. Open.
Scheffler, who started four shots ahead, never lost the lead. He never felt safe, either, not with Morikawa and Adam Hadwin on his heels all afternoon.
“This is a tough place to close out,” Scheffler said. “I didn’t do a whole lot great today, but I did enough.”
Scheffler was leading Morikawa by one shot and both hit approach shots that bounced hard and high off the green and into the rough. Both chipped to about 5 feet. When he finally won, he fist-pumped the air to show his excitement.
“It was pretty special thinking about that as I was walking over to shake his hand,” he said.
Morikawa, who played in the final group of both majors this year, holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-3 12th hole and stayed on Scheffler’s heels the rest of the way. He shot 71, the only one from the final 13 groups to break par.
