- Scottie Scheffler stands tall at the Memorial in the wind. Details below 👇
Scotty Scheffler never ceases to amaze. On a windy day that could make PGA Tour players look foolish, Scheffler kept things simple. He marched through Muirfield Village with four birdies and a stunning eagle on the par-5 15th to finish with a 4-under 68 and qualify for the Memorial Tournament. “Around this golf course, especially when the winds pick up, just because there are so many trees blocking it and when it gets gusty it can be very difficult and start blowing in directions where he’s not supposed to do it sometimes,” Scheffler said. .
“It’s another challenge to play on this golf course. But I felt like we did a good job today of executing and putting ourselves in the right spots out there.”
Perhaps nobody has executed better this week than Scheffler did on 15. He pounded his drive right down the middle of the fairway and then stuck a 3-iron from 238 yards to about nine feet. Scheffler then got back to 8 under for Eagle, restoring his two-shot lead, from which he briefly surrendered with bogeys on the 11th and 13th holes.
“It was just a good 3-iron shot. “I felt like I had a good club, I had a club that I wanted to make a cut on, and when the pin is right, it’s good. It was one of those moments,” Scheffler said of his approach to No. 15.
“So I hit a really good shot pretty close to the hole and was able to make the putt.”
Scheffler entered the tournament at 5 under par behind Adam Hadwin. But Hadwin came out in the morning and shot a par 72, giving Scheffler the opportunity to take full control of the tournament. Hadwin actually increased his score to 8 under, but a double bogey at 17 brought him down to six. Scheffler made some careless plays between the 10th and 13th holes, but no major mistakes. He made a phenomenal par save on the 10th hole, hitting a 16-footer to save par. Then on the par-5 11th, Scheffler hit his third shot into the front bunker and couldn’t get it up or down.
Two holes later, Scheffler bogeyed just short of the fairway, his second bogey in three holes. But then he showed everyone why he is the best player in the world at 15, making it look easy.
He then went on to cap his round with a beautiful birdie on the 18th, despite putting his drive into the right fairway bunker. It was the second day in a row that he made a birdie on the final hole. Still, Scheffler didn’t call the game “easy.”
“Easy is never the right word. “I think what I love about the game is how difficult it is. I love coming out here and playing against the best players in the world on the best golf courses, but obviously it’s a pretty tough course,” Scheffler explained. “I really enjoy competing here and I don’t worry too much about whether it’s easy or hard, and some days I play well, other days I don’t, but the rest of the time I just come out in great shape.” I’m trying to compete here
Scheffler is now looking for his fifth win of the season, including a victory against Augusta National. He certainly enjoys competing with his fellow professionals, but do his peers enjoy competing with him?