While Ben Griffin was only one shot back heading into the final round, it was hard to see anyone other than Scottie Scheffler winning The Memorial Tournament on Sunday given the way that he is playing at the moment.
Scottie Scheffler won for a third time this year at The Memorial Tournament. Ultimately, the world number one finished four shots clear of anyone else at Muirfield Village.
Remarkably, it is the smallest margin of victory Scheffler has had this year. He won by eight at The CJ CUP Byron Nelson, while he was five clear of anyone else at the PGA Championship.
Crucially, he has now won the last nine events in which Scheffler had held the lead after 54 holes. It is quite the contrast from the early stages of his career, with the 28-year-old converting just two of the first six he held on the PGA Tour.
The LIV Golf star who became the first player to come from behind and deny Scottie Scheffler a PGA Tour win
Andrew Landry was the first player to stop Scottie Scheffler converting a 54-hole lead. However, the pair were tied after Saturday at the 2020 American Express.
It was at the 2021 Houston Open that Scheffler lost out when having the outright lead after three rounds.
Scheffler began the day at seven under par. However, a one under par round was not enough to secure his first PGA Tour victory.
Instead, it was Jason Kokrak who won by two. Of course, Kokrak was one of the players who ended up moving to LIV Golf, with the 40-year-old part of Brooks Koepka‘s Smash team.
Kokrak is yet to win on LIV, while he has never had a top 10 in the major championships.
How Scottie Scheffler reacted to failing to win the 2021 Houston Open
The win in Houston proved to be Kokrak’s third victory in 13 months. He would also win the QBE Shoutout alongside Kevin Na one month later.
Scheffler meanwhile, suggested that he was content with his performance given that he had not found his top gear throughout the week at Memorial Park.
“So I’ll take from this I felt like I played a lot of good golf this week without really my best stuff. I really felt uncomfortable with my ball-striking going into the week, but I gave myself a chance to win here in the end, I put myself in position on Sunday. I’d say today I just probably didn’t make enough putts. Outside of that, I definitely played good enough to win,” he said.
It would probably be an understatement to say that the two players’ careers have gone in very different directions since that tournament.
Kokrak has just one top 10 on LIV Golf this year, while Scheffler now has as many PGA Tour victories in 2025 alone as Kokrak had in his entire career.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
