Scottie Scheffler has done it again. The No. 1 golfer in the world on Sunday became the first player since Tiger Woods (1999-2001) to successfully defend his title at the Memorial Tournament, picking up his his third victory of the 2025 PGA Tour season -- all in his last four starts -- along with a $4 million winner's share from the seventh signature event of the season. In doing so, he only trails only Woods, Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus in the shortest time between the first and 16th win of his professional career.
Scheffler, the leader entering Sunday's final round, held off a cluster of challengers at Muirfield Village to claim a four-stroke triumph over Ben Griffin at 10 under. The reigning three-time PGA Tour Player of the Year has now converted nine straight outright 54-hole leads into victories -- dating back to the 2023 Phoenix Open -- extending the one-stroke edge he held over Griffin entering Round 4 in Dublin, Ohio, to run away with the championship over the back nine.
Among Scheffler's 16 career PGA Tour wins -- matching his fellow American Justin Thomas -- 13 have come at major championships (three), signature events (nine) an the Tour Championship, the biggest-money tournaments available. Scheffler on the PGA Tour also has a Phoenix Open victory and two more within his home state of Texas, along with a gold medal-winning effort at the 2024 Paris Olympics and two victories at the Hero World Challenge.
The Memorial marks the fifth tournament the 28-year-old has conquered more than once joining the Masters, Players Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational and Phoenix Open.
| Golfer | Time between 1st & 16th win |
|---|---|
Sam Snead | 2 years, 182 days |
Jack Nicklaus | 3 years, 52 days |
Tiger Woods | 3 years, 95 days |
Scottie Scheffler | 3 years, 108 days |
While many were crowning him Saturday evening before the final round even began, Scheffler was far from his steady self in the early proceedings Sunday. His ball striking was in slight disarray and led him to missing his first four greens in regulation. However, as has been the case all season, Scheffler summoned another aspect of his game to pick up the slack.
Up-and-downs were successfully converted on those holes allowing the reigning PGA champion to maintain his slight advantage over Griffin. The difference bounced between one and two strokes for most of the front nine before Scheffler made his only bogey of the weekend on the par-4 10th, heading to the par-5 11th one stroke clear.
He got the dropped shot back immediately on the par 5 -- as he so often does -- and quickly put the pedal to the medal. With his foot on the gas, Scheffler picked up strokes on Griffin on Nos. 11-13 to move four shot clear of his nearest pursuer, turning what was a dog fight into a one-man show.
While his historic 2024 campaign was defined by his unworldly ball-striking, Scheffler continues to define his 2025 season. Long the best player in the world, he is now far and away the most complete in the game as he pulls the correct trigger at the precise right time without fear of a hiccup like years past.
It is this exact sequence which makes his physical tools so dangerous. There are no weaknesses in his game. There are no holes to poke or questions to ask. Scheffler can win in any setting among any type of field through any type of battle.
Scheffler's second Memorial win -- and second straight handshake with Nicklaus just off the 18th green at Muirfield Village -- serves as another reminder of what has been echoed before: This is Scheffler's world right now, and everyone else is just living in it. Grade: A+
Here are the grades for the rest of the notable names on the leaderboard at the 2025 Memorial Tournament.
2. Ben Griffin (-6): The two-time winner this season hung tough with the world No. 1. After opening his tournament with a 65, Griffin held serve in the middle two rounds to set up a date with Scheffler in the final pairing. He acquitted himself nicely for the most part, but a couple short misses and a couple loose swings during the meat of his round were ultimately his undoing. The experience will serve as another learning opportunity for the 29-year-old as he continues to set new personal highs by the week. His U.S. Ryder Cup consideration is more than warranted at this stage. Griffin has three top-2 finishes in his last six events after only registereing two across his first 89 professional tournaments. His seven top-10 finishes this season are second most on the PGA Tour behind only Scheffler. Grade: A
T7. Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth (-1): In the field via a sponsor's exemption, Fowler made the most of his opportunity and once again held a late tee time Sunday. He now has three straight top-16 finishes in PGA Tour events with this one coming with the added bonus of punching his ticket into The Open at Royal Portrush. (The Memorial is part of the Open Qualifying Series and invites the highest not-otherwise-exempt finisher into the final major of the year._ He'll look to roll the momentum over into Monday as he attempts to qualify for the U.S. Open. Grade: A-
Spieth's game is better when he is in contention over the weekend. He sizzled from tee to green and made a ton of birdies to position his name on the first page of the leaderboard. Unfortunately, he also made a ton of mistakes as his third round -- six birdies, six bogeys and six pars -- was emblematic of the state of his game. He is close, and this performance should serve as another building block towards competing with consistency. Grade: B+
T16. Ludvig Åberg (+1): It's been pretty uninspiring from Åberg since his win at the Genesis Invitational -- top-10 finish at the Masters excluded. A final-round 66 saw the Swede surge up the leaderboard and into the top 20 for only the fourth time all season and first since that Masters finish. His iron play and short game carried the load on Sunday; he will need to continue to do so for the rest of the summer if he expects to contend in big-time tournaments like the U.S. Open where he held the 36-hole lead a year ago. Grade: B-
T31. Justin Thomas (+5): The two-time major champion battled back from an opening 80 to secure a weekend tee time, but it never materialized into anything memorable. Thomas continues to struggle on golf courses that present problems off the tee as he hit only 18 fairways through his first three rounds. While his putter continues to improve and impress, his ability to compete in tougher tournaments will remain limited until he figures out the big stick. Grade: D+
Other notable finishers: Sepp Straka (3rd); Keegan Bradley (T7); Patrick Cantlay (T12), Akshay Bhatia, Tommy Fleetwood and Sungjae Im (T16); Collin Morikawa (T20); Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele (T25). Check out the complete Memorial leaderboard.
The push has been halted on No. 17. Ben Griffin misses the fairway far out to the right and does well to get his second by the green before making a mess around the putting surface. He needs three putts for his double bogey after a brutal chip which drops him to 6 under and four behind Scheffler heading up the last.
Griffin goes 3-2 on Nos. 15-16 and cuts Scheffler's lead from four to two with two holes to play. Griffin has showed incredible fight down the stretch here and turned what could have been a stress-free walk up the last into something interesting.
Well, that up-and-down may very well do it. Scottie Scheffler pulls his wedge into the greenside bunker and is able to save par from just about 10 feet to maintain his four-stroke lead over Ben Griffin and Sepp Straka. Griffin had eyes on potentially trimming the lead in half but was unable to get up-and-down for his birdie from the front of the green.
Ben Griffin misses his third short right-to-left putt inside 5 feet in his last 12 holes dating back to yesterday. He is unable to cash in a 5 footer for birdie while Scottie Scheffler bounces back from 13 feet to regain his two-stroke lead. That felt large.
His bogey-free weekend is officially over. The world No. 1 makes a bogey after missing the fairway on No. 10 and finding his golf ball near the base of it. He misses a 12-foot par attempt and will give one back to the field and one to Ben Griffin who is hanging tough only one stroke behind. Both players are even par on their rounds through 10.
The world No. 1 is back in front by two thanks to his first birdie on the par-5 7th. That moves him to 9 under and two clear of Ben Griffin and three clear of Nick Taylor. Scheffler played his second shot short of the green while Griffin carried his pin high and watched as it tumbled long of the green and left a difficult up-and-down.
Stop if you have heard this before…Spieth made par from here. He is 1 under on the day and four strokes behind Scottie Scheffler.
That is a bad, bad, bad 3-putt bogey from Ben Griffin. He finds the surface in regulation and needs three putts from 22 feet for his bogey on the par-3 4th. Scheffler makes par from the thick rough and walks off the fourth green with a two-stroke lead. The world No. 1 has yet to hit a green in regulation.
It is three straight pars for the world No. 1 and one of everything for the man who is his closet pursuer. Ben Griffin bounces back from an opening bogey with a birdie on No. 2 and tacks on a par on the short par-4 3rd. Nick Taylor has inched closer with a couple of birdies to sit two off the pace at 6 under
Routine 4 to begin his final round — nearly hit a man, chipped to 20 feet and rolled in the par putt.
We only have a few tee times in between the immediate chasing pack that includes one Mr. Jordan Spieth. The three-time major champion has carded rounds of 72-69-72 and starts at 3 under — five behind Scottie Scheffler. Spieth lost four strokes to Scheffler in the final two holes of his third round and will need a fast start given the deficit. The good news is there are rounds out there as shown by Brandt Snedeker going 6 under through his first 11 holes.
