Monday wrap-up: the Memorial Tournament
A clutch par putt. A fist pump. A tight embrace on the 72nd hole at Jack’s place. Scottie Scheffler adds another trophy to an already impressive list of victories on the 2024 PGA Tour season. This victory, much like his dramatic win at The Players Championship earlier this spring, did not come without Sunday drama down the stretch. The course setup coming into the final round certainly created conditions fitting of a major tournament, and Jack delivered the type of finish we would only hope to see this coming Sunday at Pinehurst. Muirfield’s final round featured only two sub-70s, with Matt Fitzpatrick & Emiliano Grillo both firing a 69.
The carnage started early and never slowed down as we witnessed a total of 42 rounds over par for Sunday alone. When asked after the round about the way the greens changed throughout the week, Collin Morikawa (2nd | -7 / 281) said, “Greens changed drastically….By today, it was impossible to even get it to stop within 5, 6 yards.” Morikawa is looking forward to the next challenge at the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. Typically, the Memorial Tournament is two weeks before the U.S. Open, however, this year it fell the week prior. Collin said this fit into his plan to prepare, “Obviously, majors are a long week, and, you know, finishing 2nd or 1st or Top 5 tends to kind of drain you, but we do this week in and week out, we kind of know how to prep and what to go into for next week and I have enjoyed this a lot.”
Adam Hadwin (3rd | -4 / 284) saw his charge fade down the stretch after being in contention early following an opening round 66. Hadwin was also asked about the difficulty of the setup for the final round, “Obviously an extremely tough golf course when things are going well, and I was kind of fighting things, for the most part, today. I didn’t drive it in the fairway, which is enemy number 1. Even when I did, it felt like I hit some good shots that just didn’t work out.” And when asked about his confidence heading into Pinehurst and what he learned about patience this week, “ It’s going to be a very similar test, let’s be honest. You’re going to hit some good shots that don’t get rewarded and you’re going to have to scramble and stay patient and do all the things that I tried to do today…lots of positives. You could look at it one of two ways: either it’s good prep for next week or we just got our butts kicked before going into next week.” Only time will tell if the confidence and experience gained at Muirfield will travel with Hadwin from Ohio to the Old North State.
Scheffler (1st | -8 / 280) sealed a one shot victory with a gritty par putt on the 18th after Morikawa’s chip from the fringe drifted wide left. Scottie, who normally does not watch his playing partner, kept one eye on Morikawa’s par attempt, “I was watching his chip there. 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 like insult him or anything, but from my angle, it didn't look like it was going in at any point. 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.” Sunday’s victory saw the Scheffler family welcome their newest member to the podium. This was the first tournament won with his newborn son accompanying his wife to greet him while walking off of the 18th green. “Watching her be a mom the last month or so has been really special, and I'm so proud of her. I definitely could not be doing what I do out here on the golf course without her support, and yeah, having Bennett there today to celebrate, even though he has absolutely no clue what's going on, but it's fun for us as parents, and so we'll always be able to look back fondly on this tournament and Benny's first week out on the road with us.” Despite the tough conditions and difficult test on Sunday, Scheffler never seemed to lose focus. He heads into the U.S. Open as the shortest odds favorite in 15 YEARS in a major tournament. The only comparable player at this point is Tiger, but Scottie has a long way to go to achieve the mark of success set by Woods over the last two and a half decades. But with the season he has had so far in 2024, there is no reason to think anyone has a better chance to hoist the trophy after the 72nd hole on Sunday afternoon than Scottie Scheffler.
All stats and figures obtained from the PGA Tour & ShotLink Reports. Player interview transcripts provided by ASAP Sports. Longleaf Golf is an independent media outlet not associated with the PGA Tour, the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, or any of their affiliates.
