Monday Leaderboard: Scottie Scheffler is a generational star

Welcome to the Monday Leaderboard, where we run down the weekend’s top stories in the wonderful world of golf. Grab an Arnold Palmer, pull up a chair and get comfortable with what the next 10 years are going to look like …

Scheffler goes back-to-back at Jack’s place

It’s about time to start reckoning with the generational greatness of Scottie Scheffler, and next week’s U.S. Open seems like an ideal opportunity. Before that, though, let’s take a moment to note that he’s on yet another of his periodic heaters that show just how freaking far ahead of the rest of his generation this dude is. Scheffler won Sunday at the Memorial, defending his title at Jack Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village and claiming his third victory in his last four starts. And, like he’s done so often before, he won by a comfortable margin, handily smoking the field by four strokes.

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You see a lot of cutesy tweets that “Scottie is inevitable,” a reference to a line spoken by the supervillain Thanos in “Avengers: Endgame.” However — MCU nerd alert here — Thanos immediately lost everything after saying those words, and it sure doesn’t look like Scheffler’s losing anything anytime soon. (Plus, Thanos only took out half his competition; Scheffler wipes ‘em all out. Scottie Scheffler: Better villain than Thanos, is what we’re saying.)

Through the first quarter of the season, talk focused on how Rory McIlroy could – and finally did – claim the career grand slam after 10 years of trying. Now Scheffler can do the same thing before football season is here. Sure, he needs to win a couple more tournaments, but would you bet against him?

Maja Stark slams the door at U.S. Women’s Open

Like Scheffler, Maja Stark entered Sunday with a one-stroke lead on the field. And like Scheffler, Stark didn’t let anyone get close enough to scare her as she rolled to a convincing victory at Erin Hills. Stark finished bogey-bogey, but that was more than enough to win by two strokes and claim her first major championship.

Julia Lopez Ramirez had a more cinematic final hole, ending up in the scoring tent as part of a triple-bogey that sent her plummeting from a top-10 finish all the way down to T19.

Monday: Golf’s longest day returns

We’re a week out from the U.S. Open, and that means it’s time for dozens of players — including some big names — to take one last swing at qualifying for America’s tournament. Final qualifying takes place at 10 sites across the country on Monday, a marathon now known as “Golf’s Longest Day.” Each site will have one or a few spots available, and players vying for those spots include former and future major winners. Big names in the hunt include major winners like Zach Johnson, Graeme McDowell, Padraig Harrington and Jason Dufner, as well as 2024 Masters low amateur Neal Shipley and 21-year-old phenom Luke Clanton. A lot of dreams will be realized — and a whole lot more will be crushed — on Monday.

Ben Griffin gets up and close with the fans

Ben Griffin has been one of the best non-Rory/Scottie stories of the early 2025 season, and with good reason. He walked away from the game a few years ago, but he’s caught fire since and already won twice this season. He’s putting himself into serious Ryder Cup consideration, and he kept pace with Scheffler all the way through the Memorial before a late double-bogey submarined his last chances. But along the way on Sunday, he at least did get the chance to get to know one of his fans a little better after popping a shot off the fan’s back.

(Not quite sure why the guy felt the need to take off his shirt, but maybe with those pecs, the answer is self-explanatory.)

Rickie Fowler is headed back to the Open

In golf, you’ve got to maximize your opportunities at every turn, and Rickie Fowler did exactly that this weekend at Muirfield. He received a sponsor’s exemption into the Memorial, and proceeded to finish T7 at 1-under, nine strokes behind Scheffler. That was enough to get Fowler into the 153rd Open Championship, thanks to the space the oldest major offers to the highest-finishing non-exempt player. Fowler made it by the narrowest of margins; he and Brandt Snedeker tied, but Fowler got the nod because of his better world ranking. Fowler won’t have long to celebrate his exemption; he’s scheduled to attempt to qualify his way into the U.S. Open on Monday. Still, after a year in which he didn’t even qualify for the Masters and missed the cut at the PGA, another shot at major glory has to feel like a step forward.

The Mulligan: Another Scheffler blowout

You know, you can be the world’s greatest golfer, you can win a tournament and pocket a few million bucks for four days’ work, and you’re still gonna have to change a diaper or two:

It’s about all we have in common with Scottie anymore.

Coming up: PGA Tour: RBC Canadian Open (Ontario); LPGA: ShopRite LPGA Classic (New Jersey); PGA Tour Champions: American Family Insurance Championship (Wisconsin); LIV: LIV Golf Virginia.