Scottie Scheffler rolls to victory at Memorial for third win of 2025

Straits Times

2 days ago

Winner Scottie Scheffler plays a shot during the final round of the Memorial Tournament 2025 on June 1. PHOTO: AFP
Scottie Scheffler rolls to victory at Memorial for third win of 2025
– Scottie Scheffler showed once again that he is ready to conquer whatever challenge he is faced with on the PGA Tour.
The world's No. 1 golfer had another smooth round and won for the third time in his last four tournaments, successfully defending his title at the Memorial Tournament with a two-under 70 in the final round at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, on June 1.
'This is a golf course that is definitely going to expose your weaknesses. Did some really good battling today... Put up another really good round on this very difficult golf course,' Scheffler said.
At 10-under 278 for the tournament, Scheffler secured a four-shot victory over Ben Griffin – the only other golfer to win a PGA Tour event that Scheffler started in May. Scheffler had not won in 2025 until capturing the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, which is considered his hometown event in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and followed that with claiming the PGA Championship. He won seven times in 2024.
Scheffler and Tiger Woods are the only back-to-back winners of the Memorial Tournament. It is a tournament hosted by legendary Jack Nicklaus, who greeted the current champion as he walked off the green. Scheffler said: 'It's pretty cool. It's always a hard week. It's so challenging to play this tournament.'
Much like on May 31, Scheffler was content with pars as he played the front nine in one under with eight pars.
Griffin (73 on June 1) led for large chunks of the first three days, but lost a share of the top spot with a bogey on the final hole on May 31. He began June 1 with another bogey, and he was two over for the day through 13 holes.
'I'll learn from some of my swings down the stretch. I'll remember some of the good stuff, and I'll bounce back and get right back to it,' Griffin said.
An eagle on the par-five 15th with a 12-foot putt followed by a birdie on No. 16 allowed Griffin to extend the suspense. Then the margin went from two strokes to four when Griffin was stuck with a double bogey at No. 17.
'We battled really hard on the weekend. Ben made things interesting down the stretch. Overall, it was a great week,' Scheffler said.
A week ago, Scheffler tied for fourth place as Griffin won the Charles Schwab Challenge. Scheffler has secured seven consecutive top-10 finishes.
'The guy's relentless,' said Sepp Straka, the tournament's third-place finisher from Austria. 'He loves competition, and he doesn't like giving up shots.'
Griffin said his putting was costly during the weekend. The runner-up spot did not seem as rewarding as it would have in previous years.
'I'd take this finish, like, a year ago, two years ago, three years ago. I'm definitely a little disappointed to not have made it a little bit closer or gotten it done,' he said.
Straka (70) was third at five under and second-round co-leader Nick Taylor of Canada (73) finished fourth at four under. Russell Henley (71) and Maverick McNealy (70) shared fifth place at two under.
Brandt Snedeker's 65 was the best score of the final round, moving him to one under and into a five-way tie for seventh place.
'I think I probably made 200 feet of putts today,' Snedeker said. 'I had the putter working. When you have days like that, it's just get it on the green, give yourself a chance.'
Also in that cluster at seven under was Rickie Fowler (73), who qualified for July's British Open as a result of his finishing spot.
'We're heading the right way,' Fowler said. 'This week still could have been a lot better, but definitely positive is going over to Portrush. That's one I've wanted on the schedule.' REUTERS
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