What a day to be a golf fan. The Memorial Tournament is always special since it’s hosted by Jack Nicklaus, who’s the first- or second-best golfer in history and it’s not up for debate. Fitting then that Scottie Scheffler puts himself in the Golden Bear’s company with his fifth win of the season by outdueling Collin Morikawa at the end to prevail by a single stroke.
But before diving into Scheffler’s latest achievement, to reiterate real quick, Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, brings with it much more than what happens on the course. Each year, The Memorial names an honoree to celebrate the greatest names in all of golf. During his traditional shared time in the booth with Jim Nantz on Sunday, Nicklaus revealed that his wife, Barbara, would be the 2025 Memorial honoree — and to use his words, he could barely get the words out. Good luck not getting a little misty-eyed on this one!
The Memorial Tournament is themed each year around a person who has contributed to the game of golf. This was Jack Nicklaus' idea as a contribution to perpetuating achievements of the game's greatest individuals. The honoree is selected by the Captains Club, a group of statesmen… pic.twitter.com/wYx8WFPlLY
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 9, 2024
What a classy gesture. They don’t call Barbara Nicklaus the First Lady of Golf for nothing! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jack that emotional in my life. He’s always been a family man, to the point where he probably left more majors on the table because of his dedication in that regard. But I mean, he did win 18 of those, and finished second 19 times. Decent!
So that was all awesome, but of course, we’d be remiss not to recognize the torrid, historic pace Scheffler is on. If there was any lingering mental scar tissue from his fiasco of a sham of a clown show arrest at the PGA Championship, that’s relieved to a huge degree with this triumph. How about the a clutch up-and-down for the dub, followed by a greenside handshake/chat with Jack? Not a bad day at the office.
A win at Jack's Place for Scottie Scheffler 🏆 @MemorialGolf pic.twitter.com/zMlaetqFzQ
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) June 9, 2024
A moment Scottie Scheffler will never forget with Jack Nicklaus 🤝 pic.twitter.com/AJ87gC7IAn
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) June 9, 2024
What Scheffler will likely remember most about this day, though, is the fact that his son — whose birth could’ve taken him away from an eventual win this year on Masters Sunday — was there to greet him with his wife, Meredith.
The Scheffler's celebrating the win ❤️ pic.twitter.com/MSjcTrGgKF
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) June 9, 2024
Scottie is a pretty emotionally guarded dude. Even held his composure during the ridiculous arrest circus in Louisville. His voice definitely broke a little when discussing how much this particular win means for him.
"This tournament is very special to us, and it will be for a long time because of this moment."
Scottie Scheffler on getting his first win since becoming a father ❤️
🎤: @Amanda_Balionis pic.twitter.com/M5cNshtJ9t
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) June 9, 2024
The only man who you can even argue is better than Jack at golf is Tiger Woods. Scottie may only have two majors in the bag to date (both at The Masters). However, at age 27 and with his golfing prime ahead of him, he may very well push his way into the GOAT conversation someday at this rate. Numbers don’t lie.
Fastest to win 5 times in calendar year on @PGATOUR since 1970
1974 Johnny Miller – April 28
1980 Tom Watson – May 11
2024 Scottie Scheffler – June 9
2000 Tiger Woods – June 18— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) June 9, 2024
Five players have won The Masters, The Players and the Memorial in their careers: Scottie Scheffler, Tiger Woods, Fred Couples, Raymond Floyd and Jack Nicklaus.
Scheffler (2022) and Woods (2001) are the only players to win all 3 in the same year.
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) June 9, 2024
Scottie Scheffler becomes the second player to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, THE PLAYERS Championship, Masters Tournament and the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday in the same year, joining Tiger Woods (2001).
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) June 9, 2024
Today's win puts Scottie Scheffler over $24M in official earnings this season.
He is $12.4M ahead of second place (Xander Schauffele).
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) June 9, 2024
Scottie has lost to nine golfers* across eight tournaments since March 1 lol
*and one detective
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) June 9, 2024
If a PGA Tour golfer played the last 8 events Scheffler has played — API, Players, Houston, Masters, RBC Heritage, PGA and Memorial — made the cut at all eight and played them all to the field average, he would be about +5 at the end of those 32 rounds.
In that same time,…
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) June 9, 2024
The US Open tees off at Pinehurst next week. Gee, I wonder who the favorite could be!
