In a showdown between two of the hottest players on the PGA Tour, Scottie Scheffler cruised to victory over Ben Griffin at the Memorial Tournament.
It was the third triumph in the last four outings for World No. 1 Scheffler, who shot a final-round 2-under-par 70 to beat Griffin by four shots. The 2024 winner of the event, Scheffler, joined Tiger Woods as the only players to defend their Memorial titles successfully.
“It’s always a hard week,” said Scheffler, who finished at 10-under 278 and earned $4 million for the signature event win. “We battled really hard on the weekend. Overall it was a great week.”
Griffin, who had notched his second win of the season the previous week at the Charles Schwab Challenge, took the first-round lead with a 7-under 65. He entered the final round one shot behind Scheffler and finished second at 6-under 282 after closing with a 73. He earned $2.2 million, more than he made for winning at Colonial. Sepp Straka was third at 283, and Nick Taylor was fourth at 284.
Griffin’s Charge Comes up Short
Trailing Scheffler by four shots on the back nine, Griffin tried to make things interesting. He sank a 12-foot eagle putt 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. But Griffin’s double bogey on the 17th provided Scheffler with his comfortable margin of victory.
“I made it exciting there at the end for a couple holes,” Griffin said. “It’s funny, 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.
“I knew going into today I needed to shoot under par, and I knew my game was there. My putter was just a little shaky early.”
Solid Short Game Helped Scheffler
While much of the field was often left with challenging lies and difficult up-and-down attempts, Scheffler had few issues handling the demanding Muirfield Village Golf Club course. He saved par seven times in the final round and made only one bogey over his final 40 holes.
That bogey came on the 10th hole, but Scheffler quickly overcame that on what proved to be the pivotal par-5 11th hole. Scheffler made a 14-foot birdie putt, and Griffin missed his birdie attempt from 4 feet, 8 inches.
“Definitely an important moment in the tournament because after the bogey on 10, making that putt on 11 was definitely really important to kind of keep him at bay,” Scheffler said.
“You know Scottie’s probably going to play a good round of golf,” Straka said. “The guy’s relentless. He loves competition, and he doesn’t like giving up shots.”
Scheffler took time off from the Tour after cutting his hand while preparing a Christmas dinner. He won his first tournament of the season a month ago at the Byron Nelson, and two weeks later, he won the PGA Championship in his next tournament. He tied for fourth behind Griffin at Colonial.
Fowler Qualifies for British Open
Rickie Fowler tied for seventh, his first top 10 of the year, to grab the one British Open exemption available to the tournament field.
“That’s one I’ve wanted on the schedule,” said Fowler, who had received a sponsor exemption for the Memorial.
The Tour is in Toronto for the RBC Canadian Open. Robert MacIntyre is the defending champ. Griffin was second last year, one shot behind. He and Scheffler are not playing as they will be preparing for the U.S. Open at Oakmont the following week.
