Dublin, Ohio — Scotty Schaeffler wins with surprising regularity so much that it’s not a comfortable topic to describe his superiority. So, when he won the monument for the second year in a row on Sunday, he had at least tournament host Jack Nicklaus by his side.
Nicklaus is a great authority when it comes to Schaeffler, as Golden Bear sees a lot of himself in the world’s number one player.
“Once you win yourself to win, you have to be smart about how you finish it,” Nicklaus said after watching Schaeffler turn into a four-shot victory. “That’s how he plays. He reminds me of the ways I like to play.”
This is how Schaeffler won the PGA Championship two weeks ago, and it happened again in tough Muirfield Village.
He’s always there. He rarely makes mistakes. Blink and Lead can take up to 4 shots.
Schaeffler never lost the lead and in another relentless performance, not giving anyone much chance to stretch. He closed at 2 under 70 in conditions that felt like a dress rehearsal in the US. He was the only player to break everything for four days.
Schaeffler, who won the 9th consecutive win with a 54-hole lead, joined Tiger Woods as the only repeat winner of the Memorial. Woods won three straight wins (1999-2001) out of five titles at Muirfield Village.
“Well, you did it again,” Nicklaus told Schaeffler that he was walking through the greenery.
This was not his best golf. Schaeffler had birdie putts up to the fifth hole, hitting only four of the first 10 greens of the regulation. He comes out of the bogey from the rough on the 10th hole – his only bogey in the final 40 holes – his lead was a shot from Ben Griffin.
Schaeffler had birdie putts from within 15 feet in par 5 11th place. Griffin chipped 4 feet for a birdie chance. Schaeffler made, Griffin missed it. Schaeffler is in the middle of the green with two holes: Griffin missed them and made a bogey.
The lead was four shots.
“There’s only one bogey around this place,” Schaeffler said. “I hit a lot of fairways. I definitely didn’t have much in the rough. I think I hit it with a rough of 10, but other than that, I don’t think it was really rough. Around this place, that’s important.”
Even if he didn’t feel that way, he made it all sound so simple.
“This is always a difficult week,” said Schaeffler, who finished with a 10-under 278. “We fought really hard over the weekend.
Griffin tried to make it fun at the end with a 12-foot eagle and a par-3 birdie putt in par 5 15th place (after Schaeffler missed a 15-foot Eagle Try).
It played him in two shots. But Schaeffler doesn’t make any mistakes. Fairways and green on the 17th, and fairways and green on the 18th.
Griffin made a double bogey on the 17th.
“I’m definitely even more proof that I’m at the top of this game,” Griffin said. “I’ve won twice in the last five weeks, and those feelings are fun signing a bunch of flags on Sunday nights. I was ready to do that today, but ultimately I didn’t do the way I wanted to do it.”
Griffin won a 4-foot par on the 18th at 73, finishing alone for $2.2 million worth of what he won last week at Colonial.
Sepp Straka (70) finished another shot.
“Scotty probably knows he has a good round of golf. The guy is merciless. He loves competition and doesn’t like giving up on shots,” Straca said. “But it’s one of those courses where it can happen anytime, so you had to prepare for it.
Ricky Fowler had his first top ten at the right time.
He made a par on the 18th to place 7th, winning the Open Championship spot. Fowler is tied to Brandt Snedeker at 1 under 287, but gets one open exemption available based on a higher world ranking.
“That’s what I wanted on my schedule,” said Fowler, who faces qualifying for the 36-hole at the US Open on Monday.
Schaeffler won three times in his final four starts – the exception was Colonial, fourth in the fourth place since winning the PGA Championship.
For Schaeffler, it was his fifth victory in a $20 million signature event over the past two years.
Mud was covered in mud on the golf ball on the first fairway, and spinning too much with a short iron on the next few holes, Schaeffler didn’t have birdie putts up to the fifth hole. He saved seven pars in the final round, including the final hole.
Schaeffler is the first player to win more than three PGA Tour events in a consecutive season since Sam Snard, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson. Nelson did that from 1944 until the age of 46.
His final three victories came from 8 shots (Nelson), 5 shots (PGA Championship) and 4 shots (commemoration).
“Scotty, he didn’t play for him – epic golf,” Nicklaus said. “He played what he should have done. He played good, solid, smart golf. Three ’70s and 68 years old, it’s pretty good golf under the conditions there. That’s what the best players in the world do.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.