Scottie Scheffler joined Tiger Woods as the only players to win consecutive Memorial Tournament titles after cruising to victory on Sunday.
The world No. 1 carded a two-under 70 in his final round to secure a four-shot victory at the tournament in Dublin, Ohio, to finish at 10-under 278.
With the victory, Scheffler joins Woods as the only repeat winners of the tournament, renowned as one of the hardest PGA Tour events on the schedule.
Woods has won the Memorial five times, including three straight from 1999 to 2001.
Scheffler is in dominant form now, having started the year recovering from a freak hand injury suffered while cooking Christmas dinner at home. He has now won three times in his last four starts, including at the PGA Championship last month, all by at least four shots.
But despite being the best player in the world at the moment – he stretched his lead atop the world rankings leaderboard to a margin last seen when Woods was at his peak – the American says he takes “each tournament individually.”
“Every tournament’s different, and I try to do my best to come out here and compete,” Scheffler told reporters after his victory, sitting alongside golf legend Jack Nicklaus, the host of the Memorial Tournament.
“That’s what I love to do. I love being able to play the PGA Tour, and I love being able to compete against the best players in the world and play on great golf courses like this one and be able to play in these legacy tournaments, like Mr. (Arnold) Palmer’s tournament, Mr. Nicklaus’s tournament.
“I always just dreamed of playing these tournaments. I never think about dominating. I don’t – it’s a waste of time for me to think about that kind of stuff. I’m just trying to be the best that I can be and work hard and use the gifts that I have for good and that’s pretty much it.”
It wasn’t all smooth-sailing for Scheffler though who, after embracing his wife Meredith in celebration, was handed his son Bennett to carry, only to find out the one-year-old had had a slight bathroom mishap.
Meredith could be heard saying: “He has poop all over his back,” with Scheffler responding: “That’ll happen.”
With his victory at the Muirfield Village Golf Club, Scheffler joined an exclusive group of players to have 16 PGA Tour victories, including multiple majors before the age of 32. The 28-year-old joined Woods, Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas.
There was little jeopardy during Sunday’s final round, even when Scheffler ended 31 holes without a bogey on the 10th hole which dropped his lead to just one shot.
Ben Griffin, Scheffler’s nearest rival, had an opportunity for a birdie on the par-5 11th but missed while Scheffler made his birdie putt to restore his lead.
And from there it was a procession as Scheffler showed why he’s the man to beat in golf at the moment, ahead of the US Open in two weeks at Oakmont Country Club.
“You know Scottie’s probably going to play a good round of golf. The guy’s relentless. He loves competition, and he doesn’t like giving up shots,” Sepp Straka, who finished in third, said afterwards.
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