DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Scottie Scheffler had more stress than he wanted Sunday at the Memorial and got the victory everyone has come to expect.
On a Muirfield Village course so demanding only six players broke par, Scheffler had his highest final round in nearly two years at 2-over 74, and it was just enough to hold off Collin Morikawa and win for the fifth time this year.
Scheffler, who started the final round four shots ahead, never lost the lead. He never felt safe, either, particularly on a back nine where saving par felt like hard work.
That’s what it took on the 18th hole. He was leading Morikawa by one shot and both hit approach shots that bounced hard and high off the green and into the rough. Both chipped to about 5 feet. Scheffler buried his putt to win, and the force of his fist pump to celebrate showed how tough this day was on him, and practically everybody.
Making the day even more special was the handshake with tournament host Jack Nicklaus, and cradling month-old son Bennett at his first PGA Tour event.
Morikawa, who played in the final group of both majors this year, holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-3 12th hole and stayed on Scheffler’s heels the rest of the way. He shot 71, the only one from the final 13 groups to break par.
Scheffler finished at 8-under 280 and won $4 million from this signature event and its $20 million purse. That pushes him over $24 million for the year, breaking the PGA Tour season earnings record — and it’s barely June — that he set last year in this era of rising purses.
He also become the first player since Tom Watson in 1980 to have won five times on the PGA Tour before the U.S. Open. That’s next week at Pinehurst No. 2, and Scheffler will go to the U.S. Open as a huge favorite.
LPGA TOUR
GALLOWAY, N.J. (AP) — Linnea Strom shot a tournament-record 11-under 60 to overcome a seven-stroke deficit and win the ShopRite LPGA Classic by a shot for her first LPGA Tour title.
After making the cut on the number Saturday, Strom teed off at 8:20 a.m. — three hours, 40 minutes before the final group — on the Bay Course at Seaview Resort.
Strom had an eagle — chipping in from 15 feet on the par-5 ninth — and nine birdies to get to 14-under 199. The 27-year-old Swede birdied the last three holes and four of the last five.
She had the lowest final-round score by a winner in LPGA Tour history and matched the second-lowest score overall. Annika Sorenstam set the record with a 59 in the second round of the 2001 Standard Register PING. The previous best final round for a winner was a 61 by Inbee Park in the 2014 Manulife Financial LPGA Classic.
Strom started the day tied for 52nd for by far the biggest comeback by position on the tour since 1984. The previous largest comeback by position since 1984 was Ayako Okamoto in a tie for 23rd at the 1987 Lady Keystone Open.
Megan Khang and Ayaka Furue of Japan tied for second. Khang closed with a 66, and Furue shot 65.
LIV GOLF LEAGUE
HUMBLE, Texas (AP) — Carlos Ortiz won LIV Golf Houston for his first victory on the Saudi-funded league and second big win in the Houston area.
Ortiz closed with a 5-under 67 to beat Adrian Meronk by a stroke at the Golf Club of Houston. The Mexican player won the 2020 Houston Open at Memorial Park for his lone PGA Tour title.
Part of a four-way tie for the lead entering the day, the 33-year-old Ortiz finished at 15-under 201.
Meronk shot a 68 to help Cleeks GC win the team title. The German joined LIV Golf this year.
Area resident Patrick Reed had a 68 to tie for third at 12 under with Spain’s David Puig (69). Sergio Garcia was fifth at 11 under after a 68.
EUROPEAN TOUR AND LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
HELSINGBORN, Sweden (AP) — Linn Grant of Sweden chipped in for birdie on the final hole to repeat her landmark feat by winning the Scandinavian Mixed, her second time winning an official European tour event.
It was a stunning hometown win for Grant, who started the final round 11 shots behind and closed with a 7-under 65 for a one-shot victory over Sebastian Soderberg and Calum Hill.
Soderberg missed a 15-inch putt that would have forced a playoff.
Grant also won the mixed tournament two years ago. It is co-sanctioned by the European tour and the Ladies European Tour, with men and women playing the same course for the same trophy and same purse. The women played a shorter set of tees.
Soderberg had a shocker of a final round, closing with a 77. He had a one-shot lead playing the par-4 18th at Vasatorps Golfklubb when he went into a bunker. He blasted out to 25 feet, missed the par putt and then his bogey putt from 15 inches spun all the way around and out of the cup. His double bogey gave Grant the title.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Ernie Els won for the second straight week on the PGA Tour Champions, winning the American Family Insurance Championship when tournament host Steve Stricker missed a 2 1/2-foot putt on the first hole of a playoff.
Els and defending champion Stricker shared the second-round lead and each shot 3-under 69 in windy conditions to finish at 12-under 204 at University Ridge. They both birdied the par-5 16th and parred the final two holes.
The Principal Charity Classic winner last week in Iowa, Els became the first player to win two straight events on the 50-and-over tour since Stricker last year in the Regions Tradition and Senior PGA Championship. Els won for the fifth time on the senior tour.
Stricker has 18 Champions victories. He’s winless this year.
Cameron Percy of Australia was third third at 9 under after a 67.
KORN FERRY TOUR
GREER, S.C. (AP) — Ryan Gerard won the BMW Charity Pro-Am for his first Korn Ferry Tour title, finishing with a 5-under 66 for a six-stroke victory.
Gerard finished at 26-under 269, making five birdies in a bogey-free final round at Thornblade Club. He opened with rounds of 64, 66 and 63.
The 24-year-old former North Carolina player won in his 20th start on the tour. He earned $180,000.
Seth Reeves was second after a 64.
OTHER TOURS
Cassie Porter won the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek, Michigan, for her first Epson Tour title. The 21-year-old Australian won by a stroke, closing with a 3-nder 69 to finish at 6 under. Hiroshi Iwata closed with a 3-under 68 and beat Ryo Ishikawa with a par on the first playoff hole to win the BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Cup and, at 43, become the tournament’s oldest winner. Ishikawa closed with a 63 to force the playoff. … Jonathan Gøth-Rasmussen closed with a 3-under 69 for a one-shot victory over Gary Hurley in the Challenge de Cadiz on the Chalenge Tour. … Jacques Blaauw shot a 3-under 69 and beat Tristin Galant in a playoff in the SunBet Challenge on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa.
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