All smiles as Elvis earns late PGA Championship entry
Shooting golf star Elvis Smylie will get to test himself against Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and the like after being granted a special exemption into next week's US PGA Championship in North Carolina.
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The Advertiser
02-06-2025
- The Advertiser
Scheffler joins Tiger as repeat winners at Memorial
Scottie Scheffler never lost the lead and never gave anyone much of a chance down the stretch in another relentless performance, closing with a two-under 70 for a four-shot victory to join Tiger Woods as the only repeat winners of the Memorial. Slowed by hand surgery at the start of the year from a freak accident, Scheffler appears to be in full stride with one major already in the bag and another around the corner at the US Open. "It's always a hard week," said Scheffler, who finished at 10-under 278. "We battled really hard on the weekend. Overall it was a great week." On one of the tougher PGA Tour tests of the year, Scheffler made one bogey over the final 40 holes at Muirfield Village. "Well, you did it again," tournament host Jack Nicklaus told him walking off the green. Ben Griffin tried to make it interesting at the end on Sunday with a 12-foot eagle on the par-5 15th and a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th to close within two shots with two to play. Scheffler, however, doesn't make mistakes. Griffin made double bogey on the 17th. Griffin (73) made a par on the 18th to finish alone in second, worth $US2.2 million ($A3.4 million), more than what he earned when he won at Colonial last week. Austrian Sepp Straka (70) finished another shot back. "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," Straka said. "But it's one of those courses where it can always happen, so you got to be prepared for it. I felt like I gave myself a lot of chances to kind of make a push." Scheffler now has won three times in his last four starts — the exception was Colonial, a tie for fourth the week after winning the PGA Championship — and expanded his margin at No.1 in the world to levels not seen since Woods in his peak years. Woods is a five-time winner at Memorial who won three straight from 1999 through 2001. No one had repeated at Muirfield Village since then until Scheffler. It was Scheffler's fifth victory in a $US20 million ($A31 million) signature event in the last two years. This one ended in a handshake with Nicklaus, who had said earlier in the week of Scheffler, "He plays a lot like I did." Australians Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee finished well off the pace. Scott's final-round 72 left him five over while Lee (75) was another five shots adrift. Scottie Scheffler never lost the lead and never gave anyone much of a chance down the stretch in another relentless performance, closing with a two-under 70 for a four-shot victory to join Tiger Woods as the only repeat winners of the Memorial. Slowed by hand surgery at the start of the year from a freak accident, Scheffler appears to be in full stride with one major already in the bag and another around the corner at the US Open. "It's always a hard week," said Scheffler, who finished at 10-under 278. "We battled really hard on the weekend. Overall it was a great week." On one of the tougher PGA Tour tests of the year, Scheffler made one bogey over the final 40 holes at Muirfield Village. "Well, you did it again," tournament host Jack Nicklaus told him walking off the green. Ben Griffin tried to make it interesting at the end on Sunday with a 12-foot eagle on the par-5 15th and a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th to close within two shots with two to play. Scheffler, however, doesn't make mistakes. Griffin made double bogey on the 17th. Griffin (73) made a par on the 18th to finish alone in second, worth $US2.2 million ($A3.4 million), more than what he earned when he won at Colonial last week. Austrian Sepp Straka (70) finished another shot back. "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," Straka said. "But it's one of those courses where it can always happen, so you got to be prepared for it. I felt like I gave myself a lot of chances to kind of make a push." Scheffler now has won three times in his last four starts — the exception was Colonial, a tie for fourth the week after winning the PGA Championship — and expanded his margin at No.1 in the world to levels not seen since Woods in his peak years. Woods is a five-time winner at Memorial who won three straight from 1999 through 2001. No one had repeated at Muirfield Village since then until Scheffler. It was Scheffler's fifth victory in a $US20 million ($A31 million) signature event in the last two years. This one ended in a handshake with Nicklaus, who had said earlier in the week of Scheffler, "He plays a lot like I did." Australians Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee finished well off the pace. Scott's final-round 72 left him five over while Lee (75) was another five shots adrift. Scottie Scheffler never lost the lead and never gave anyone much of a chance down the stretch in another relentless performance, closing with a two-under 70 for a four-shot victory to join Tiger Woods as the only repeat winners of the Memorial. Slowed by hand surgery at the start of the year from a freak accident, Scheffler appears to be in full stride with one major already in the bag and another around the corner at the US Open. "It's always a hard week," said Scheffler, who finished at 10-under 278. "We battled really hard on the weekend. Overall it was a great week." On one of the tougher PGA Tour tests of the year, Scheffler made one bogey over the final 40 holes at Muirfield Village. "Well, you did it again," tournament host Jack Nicklaus told him walking off the green. Ben Griffin tried to make it interesting at the end on Sunday with a 12-foot eagle on the par-5 15th and a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th to close within two shots with two to play. Scheffler, however, doesn't make mistakes. Griffin made double bogey on the 17th. Griffin (73) made a par on the 18th to finish alone in second, worth $US2.2 million ($A3.4 million), more than what he earned when he won at Colonial last week. Austrian Sepp Straka (70) finished another shot back. "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," Straka said. "But it's one of those courses where it can always happen, so you got to be prepared for it. I felt like I gave myself a lot of chances to kind of make a push." Scheffler now has won three times in his last four starts — the exception was Colonial, a tie for fourth the week after winning the PGA Championship — and expanded his margin at No.1 in the world to levels not seen since Woods in his peak years. Woods is a five-time winner at Memorial who won three straight from 1999 through 2001. No one had repeated at Muirfield Village since then until Scheffler. It was Scheffler's fifth victory in a $US20 million ($A31 million) signature event in the last two years. This one ended in a handshake with Nicklaus, who had said earlier in the week of Scheffler, "He plays a lot like I did." Australians Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee finished well off the pace. Scott's final-round 72 left him five over while Lee (75) was another five shots adrift. Scottie Scheffler never lost the lead and never gave anyone much of a chance down the stretch in another relentless performance, closing with a two-under 70 for a four-shot victory to join Tiger Woods as the only repeat winners of the Memorial. Slowed by hand surgery at the start of the year from a freak accident, Scheffler appears to be in full stride with one major already in the bag and another around the corner at the US Open. "It's always a hard week," said Scheffler, who finished at 10-under 278. "We battled really hard on the weekend. Overall it was a great week." On one of the tougher PGA Tour tests of the year, Scheffler made one bogey over the final 40 holes at Muirfield Village. "Well, you did it again," tournament host Jack Nicklaus told him walking off the green. Ben Griffin tried to make it interesting at the end on Sunday with a 12-foot eagle on the par-5 15th and a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th to close within two shots with two to play. Scheffler, however, doesn't make mistakes. Griffin made double bogey on the 17th. Griffin (73) made a par on the 18th to finish alone in second, worth $US2.2 million ($A3.4 million), more than what he earned when he won at Colonial last week. Austrian Sepp Straka (70) finished another shot back. "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," Straka said. "But it's one of those courses where it can always happen, so you got to be prepared for it. I felt like I gave myself a lot of chances to kind of make a push." Scheffler now has won three times in his last four starts — the exception was Colonial, a tie for fourth the week after winning the PGA Championship — and expanded his margin at No.1 in the world to levels not seen since Woods in his peak years. Woods is a five-time winner at Memorial who won three straight from 1999 through 2001. No one had repeated at Muirfield Village since then until Scheffler. It was Scheffler's fifth victory in a $US20 million ($A31 million) signature event in the last two years. This one ended in a handshake with Nicklaus, who had said earlier in the week of Scheffler, "He plays a lot like I did." Australians Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee finished well off the pace. Scott's final-round 72 left him five over while Lee (75) was another five shots adrift.
News.com.au
31-05-2025
- News.com.au
Scheffler looming at The Memorial
Golf: Scottie Scheffler is just three shots of the lead, following the completion of Day 2 at The Memorial
The Advertiser
28-05-2025
- The Advertiser
PGA Tour scraps 'starting strokes' format for finale
The PGA Tour has voted to overhaul the season-ending Tour Championship so that all 30 players start from scratch and the low score on a tougher East Lake course wins the FedEx Cup. The change is effective this year, with more tweaks still in the works. The announcement on Tuesday evening followed a PGA Tour board vote and a meeting of the Player Advisory Council (PAC) that has been trying for more than six months to find a solution. The primary goal was to get rid of the staggered start that none of the players seemed to like. Since 2019, the leader of the FedEx Cup going to East Lake started at 10-under par before the tournament even began. That gave him a two-shot lead over the No.2 player, and a staggered field from there until the last five players who qualified for the 30-man field were at even par. Now it will effectively be a 72-hole shootout — everyone starts at even par, just like any other tournament — with the FedEx Cup going to the winner. "We want the Tour Championship to be the hardest tournament to qualify for and the FedEx Cup trophy the most difficult to win," said Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world who won his first FedEx Cup title last year. He serves on the PAC. "Shifting the Tour Championship to a more straight-up format with a tougher course setup makes it easier for fans to follow and provides a more challenging test for players — which brings out the best competition." Still to be announced is the prize fund. Scheffler received a $US25 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup last year. The tour indicated the bonus money would be distributed more evenly to account for all 30 players — regardless of their position — have the same chance of winning. Scheffler won last year at 30-under par for a four-shot victory over Collin Morikawa. Scheffler, the No.1 seed the last three years, had a raw total of 264. Morikawa shot 262, but he was the No.7 seed and thus gave Scheffler a six-shot head start. Xander Schauffele has twice he had the low score over 72 holes (one time a tie) and watched someone else leave with the trophy. The tour said it leaned on feedback from its fans to help determine what would make the most compelling finale. More difficult to define is setting up East Lake as difficult as possible. The tour said fans wanted to see scores closer to par, and the rules officials will be in charge of adjusting the setup to encourage more risk-and-reward moments. The PAC is studying qualifications for future years that could include a smaller field and a greater reward for how players perform from the season opener in Hawaii through the BMW Championship, which precedes East Lake. The PGA Tour has voted to overhaul the season-ending Tour Championship so that all 30 players start from scratch and the low score on a tougher East Lake course wins the FedEx Cup. The change is effective this year, with more tweaks still in the works. The announcement on Tuesday evening followed a PGA Tour board vote and a meeting of the Player Advisory Council (PAC) that has been trying for more than six months to find a solution. The primary goal was to get rid of the staggered start that none of the players seemed to like. Since 2019, the leader of the FedEx Cup going to East Lake started at 10-under par before the tournament even began. That gave him a two-shot lead over the No.2 player, and a staggered field from there until the last five players who qualified for the 30-man field were at even par. Now it will effectively be a 72-hole shootout — everyone starts at even par, just like any other tournament — with the FedEx Cup going to the winner. "We want the Tour Championship to be the hardest tournament to qualify for and the FedEx Cup trophy the most difficult to win," said Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world who won his first FedEx Cup title last year. He serves on the PAC. "Shifting the Tour Championship to a more straight-up format with a tougher course setup makes it easier for fans to follow and provides a more challenging test for players — which brings out the best competition." Still to be announced is the prize fund. Scheffler received a $US25 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup last year. The tour indicated the bonus money would be distributed more evenly to account for all 30 players — regardless of their position — have the same chance of winning. Scheffler won last year at 30-under par for a four-shot victory over Collin Morikawa. Scheffler, the No.1 seed the last three years, had a raw total of 264. Morikawa shot 262, but he was the No.7 seed and thus gave Scheffler a six-shot head start. Xander Schauffele has twice he had the low score over 72 holes (one time a tie) and watched someone else leave with the trophy. The tour said it leaned on feedback from its fans to help determine what would make the most compelling finale. More difficult to define is setting up East Lake as difficult as possible. The tour said fans wanted to see scores closer to par, and the rules officials will be in charge of adjusting the setup to encourage more risk-and-reward moments. The PAC is studying qualifications for future years that could include a smaller field and a greater reward for how players perform from the season opener in Hawaii through the BMW Championship, which precedes East Lake. The PGA Tour has voted to overhaul the season-ending Tour Championship so that all 30 players start from scratch and the low score on a tougher East Lake course wins the FedEx Cup. The change is effective this year, with more tweaks still in the works. The announcement on Tuesday evening followed a PGA Tour board vote and a meeting of the Player Advisory Council (PAC) that has been trying for more than six months to find a solution. The primary goal was to get rid of the staggered start that none of the players seemed to like. Since 2019, the leader of the FedEx Cup going to East Lake started at 10-under par before the tournament even began. That gave him a two-shot lead over the No.2 player, and a staggered field from there until the last five players who qualified for the 30-man field were at even par. Now it will effectively be a 72-hole shootout — everyone starts at even par, just like any other tournament — with the FedEx Cup going to the winner. "We want the Tour Championship to be the hardest tournament to qualify for and the FedEx Cup trophy the most difficult to win," said Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world who won his first FedEx Cup title last year. He serves on the PAC. "Shifting the Tour Championship to a more straight-up format with a tougher course setup makes it easier for fans to follow and provides a more challenging test for players — which brings out the best competition." Still to be announced is the prize fund. Scheffler received a $US25 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup last year. The tour indicated the bonus money would be distributed more evenly to account for all 30 players — regardless of their position — have the same chance of winning. Scheffler won last year at 30-under par for a four-shot victory over Collin Morikawa. Scheffler, the No.1 seed the last three years, had a raw total of 264. Morikawa shot 262, but he was the No.7 seed and thus gave Scheffler a six-shot head start. Xander Schauffele has twice he had the low score over 72 holes (one time a tie) and watched someone else leave with the trophy. The tour said it leaned on feedback from its fans to help determine what would make the most compelling finale. More difficult to define is setting up East Lake as difficult as possible. The tour said fans wanted to see scores closer to par, and the rules officials will be in charge of adjusting the setup to encourage more risk-and-reward moments. The PAC is studying qualifications for future years that could include a smaller field and a greater reward for how players perform from the season opener in Hawaii through the BMW Championship, which precedes East Lake. The PGA Tour has voted to overhaul the season-ending Tour Championship so that all 30 players start from scratch and the low score on a tougher East Lake course wins the FedEx Cup. The change is effective this year, with more tweaks still in the works. The announcement on Tuesday evening followed a PGA Tour board vote and a meeting of the Player Advisory Council (PAC) that has been trying for more than six months to find a solution. The primary goal was to get rid of the staggered start that none of the players seemed to like. Since 2019, the leader of the FedEx Cup going to East Lake started at 10-under par before the tournament even began. That gave him a two-shot lead over the No.2 player, and a staggered field from there until the last five players who qualified for the 30-man field were at even par. Now it will effectively be a 72-hole shootout — everyone starts at even par, just like any other tournament — with the FedEx Cup going to the winner. "We want the Tour Championship to be the hardest tournament to qualify for and the FedEx Cup trophy the most difficult to win," said Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world who won his first FedEx Cup title last year. He serves on the PAC. "Shifting the Tour Championship to a more straight-up format with a tougher course setup makes it easier for fans to follow and provides a more challenging test for players — which brings out the best competition." Still to be announced is the prize fund. Scheffler received a $US25 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup last year. The tour indicated the bonus money would be distributed more evenly to account for all 30 players — regardless of their position — have the same chance of winning. Scheffler won last year at 30-under par for a four-shot victory over Collin Morikawa. Scheffler, the No.1 seed the last three years, had a raw total of 264. Morikawa shot 262, but he was the No.7 seed and thus gave Scheffler a six-shot head start. Xander Schauffele has twice he had the low score over 72 holes (one time a tie) and watched someone else leave with the trophy. The tour said it leaned on feedback from its fans to help determine what would make the most compelling finale. More difficult to define is setting up East Lake as difficult as possible. The tour said fans wanted to see scores closer to par, and the rules officials will be in charge of adjusting the setup to encourage more risk-and-reward moments. The PAC is studying qualifications for future years that could include a smaller field and a greater reward for how players perform from the season opener in Hawaii through the BMW Championship, which precedes East Lake.
