Scheffler wins first Memorial; admits he’s got a screw loose
COVER PHOTO: World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler celebrates his first-ever win at the Memorial Tournament on the 18th green while host Jack Nicklaus looks on. Picture by Sam Fahmi/Columbus Wired.
Somebody PLEASE don’t queue up the Lustra song “Scotty Doesn’t Know” from the 2004 movie “Eurotrip” because this Scottie does know what it takes to win an elusive Memorial Tournament trophy.
Even if he admits his brain is wired a bit differently from others.
“Just taking punishment constantly (and) to choose this life as a golfer is not for, I would say a normal person,” Scheffler said after Sunday’s round. “I think we’ve all got a few screws loose to play this game professionally and basically just battling week-in, week-out,I think that's really part of the fun of it. So I'll look back fondly on today being the battle that it was.”
The world’s No. 1 ranked golfer has finally checked a box on his resumé that he’s been waiting to mark off since playing Jack Nicklaus’ course in 2020.
“Yeah, it's very special. Mr. Nicklaus did a lot of great things for the game of golf, but the effect he had on his community and our country as well is very special so I've looked up to him for a long time,” Scheffler said. “He was always a family-first guy and I try to put my family first as much as possible just the way he did, and you can kind of see it. It's special to be here and it's even more special to be the winner.”
Scheffler started the final round of the 49th annual Memorial Tournament with a four-stroke lead at 10-under. But things got dicey for the two-time Masters winner on Sunday when he bogeyed three holes and only carded one birdie, which left things in question coming into the last hole with a one-stroke lead.
After scoring a bogey on par-4, No. 17, playing mate Collin Morikawa knocked in a par on the same hole to bring Scheffler’s lead to one.
If Morikawa birdied No. 18 and Scheffler parred, it would force a playoff.
Both players sent their second shots on the final hole into the back rough behind the green.
Morikawa went first and sent the gallery into a near frenzy when his third shot from 50 feet away skirted the left lip of the cup but failed to drop, rolling five feet down past the hole.
It was now up to Scheffler to end things on a birdie chip from almost the same exact spot.
Unfortunately, he would be unable to put it away as his chip-out hit the green 20-some feet away and came to a stop a little more than five feet above the cup.
But all he had to do was sink the five-footer for the win and that’s exactly what he did as he putted out before Morikawa because his ball was further out than Morikawa’s.
“Collin was playing some really good golf, he hit a lot of quality shots today,” Scheffler said. “He was a tough man to beat, for sure.”
Morikawa came in at 6-under and technically beat Scheffler for Sunday’s round, shooting three strokes better. But Scheffler’s four-stroke lead going into the final round was just enough to give the 27-year-old Texan an edge to win it all.
“I mean, yeah, to be honest, I thought it was breaking right,” said Morikawa, “(I) completely whiffed that one and it broke left. But that's such a tough chip shot. All you had to do was just kind of nestle it on the green. I hit it exactly how I wanted it and you can't complain when you're hitting shots like that down the stretch and you're doing things like that.”
Scheffler said he didn’t want to disrespect Morikawa’s chip but he knew it wasn’t going in.
“To me, it looked like it was a little bit out to the left. From my angle, it didn't look like, I mean, I don't want to insult him or anything, but from my angle, it didn't look like it was going in at any point,” he said. “I don't know what it looked like on TV, but from my vantage point, it didn't look like it was too close to going in.”
Scheffler snared 700 FedEx points and his payout was a cool $4 million while Morikawa took home a check for $2.2 million and gained 400 FedEx points. Canadian Adam Hadwin came in third and pocketed $1.4 million along with 350 points.
The win was Scheffler’s 11th as a PGA Tour pro and he now looks to win the third Major of his career when he visits Pinehurst, N.C. to take on the Pinehurst No. 2 golf course where this year's U.S. Open is being held.