DUBLIN (Ohio) – In steady rain on Friday, Nick Taylor’s (68) tied his low score (R1/2021) as he completed his first bogey free round in 18 career rounds at Muirfield Village to tie for the lead with R1 leader, Ben Griffin.

For Taylor, this is his third 36-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR and he’s 1-for-2 converting to a victory (2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am).

Griffin holds his third career 36-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR and is also 1-for-2 converting the victory (2025 Charles Schwab Challenge). Griffin is the second player to earn multiple 36-hole leads/co-leads this season (Scottie Scheffler/Texas Children’s Houston Open, THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson) and the first player to hold at least a share of the 36-hole lead in back-to-back weeks on TOUR since Nico Echavarria (2024 Baycurrent Classic, 2024 World Wide Technology Championship).

Brian Campbell withdrew after shooting a 79 on Thursday.

The Cut: The 36-hole cutline came in at (+5), underlining the difficulty of the Muirfield Village course that Jack built.

The Memorial Leaderboard | After 36 Holes

T1 Nick Taylor 69 68 137 (-7)

T1 Ben Griffin 65 72 137 (-7)

3 Akshay Bhatia 70 69 139 (-5)

4 Scottie Scheffler 70 70 140 (-4)

Full Leaderboard: (PGATourCom)

The Memorial | Tournament Facts

COURSE: Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio

YARDS/PAR: 7,569 yards/Par 72

ARCHITECT(S): Jack Nicklaus and Desmond Muirhead

OVERVIEW: (PGATourCom)

PRIZE Money – Purse/Winner’s Share: $20,000,000/$4,000,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Scottie Scheffler

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 700

The post PGA Tour: After 36 | The Memorial appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

DUBLIN, Ohio – Ben Griffin (1st place at -7) earned his first career 18-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR. His previous best 18-hole position: 2nd/2022 RSM Classic/finished T29). Griffin’s 7-under (65) marked his best score in five career rounds in the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday (previous best: 72/R1/2023).

Griffin carded the lowest first-round score in the Memorial Tournament since 2019 (Ryan Moore/65/finished T33) and was the only player in the field to birdie each of the last three holes in round one (Nos. 16-18).

Griffin led the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Green (2.560) and Strokes Gained: Putting (3.843).

Griffin is staying “Hot,” as he entered the week coming off his first individual PGA TOUR victory at last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge and five weeks ago, won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (with teammate Andrew Novak) for his first career win on TOUR.

Griffin is one of four players with multiple wins on TOUR this year: (Rory McIlroy/3, Sepp Straka/2, Scottie Scheffler/2).

The Memorial Leaderboard | After 18 Holes

1 Ben Griffin 65 (-7)

2 Collin Morikawa 67 (-5)

3 Max Homa 68 (-4)

T4 Shane Lowry 69 (-3)

T4 Keegan Bradley 69 (-3)

T4 Nick Taylor 69 (-3)

Full Leaderboard: (PGATourCom)

The Memorial | Tournament Facts

COURSE: Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio

YARDS/PAR: 7,569 yards/Par 72

ARCHITECT(S): Jack Nicklaus and Desmond Muirhead

OVERVIEW: (PGATourCom)

PRIZE Money – Purse/Winner’s Share: $20,000,000/$4,000,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Scottie Scheffler

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 700

The post PGA Tour: The Memorial appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

DUBLIN, Ohio – The Memorial, presented by Workday was Scottie Scheffler’s 11th career PGA TOUR title and fifth this season. He joined four different players (on six instances) who have won the Memorial Tournament and THE PLAYERS Championship or a major championship in the same season as Scheffler now captured the 2024 Memorial, the 2024 PLAYERS Championship, and 2024 Masters Tournament. The other players to accomplish the feat are Raymond Floyd (1982), Curtis Strange (1988), Paul Azinger (1993) and Tiger Woods (1999, 2000, 2001).

Scheffler became the seventh player (16th instance) with five or more TOUR wins in a season since 1983 and first since Justin Thomas in 2016-17 (5). Scheffler has won five of his last eight starts on TOUR and has finished outside the Top 10 only once in 13 starts this season (T17/The American Express).

He became the second player since 1950 with five TOUR victories including a major, before the U.S. Open (Arnold Palmer/1960, 1962) which is this week at Pinehurst.

The last five instances of a player winning five times in a calendar year on the PGA TOUR before June 10:

• Scottie Scheffler, 2024
• Tom Watson, 1980
• Johnny Miller, 1974
• Arnold Palmer, 1962
• Arnold Palmer, 1960

Collin Morikawa recorded his third Top-5 finish in as many starts (T4/PGA Championship, 4th/Charles Schwab Challenge). He was seeking a fourth victory on a Jack Nicklaus-designed venue – 2019 Barracuda Championship (Montreux G&CC), 2020 Workday Charity Open (Muirfield Village), 2021 WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession.

The Memorial 2024 | Final Leaderboard

1 Scottie Scheffler 67 68 71 74 280 (-8)

2 Collin Morikawa 68 74 68 71 281 (-7)

3 Adam Hadwin 66 72 72 74 284 (-4)

4 Christiaan Bezuidenhout 72 67 74 72 285 (-3)

Final Leaderboard (link)

The post Scheffler Dominating the TOUR appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

DUBLIN, Ohio – (Staff and Wire Service Report – Collin Morikawa recalled that he was nearly moved to tears when he had to withdraw from the 2023 Memorial Tournament on the morning of the final round because of a back injury.

But Morikawa has returned for this year’s edition of the Memorial, which starts on Thursday at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Ohio.

Morikawa will be trying to capture the victory that eluded him a year ago while also going for a handshake from the event’s longtime host, golf legend Jack Nicklaus, on the 18th green.

“I felt gutted last year,” said Morikawa, who was tied for ninth at 4-under par and two shots behind the leaders after three rounds when he suffered back spasms during a workout that Sunday morning.

“I hurt myself on Sunday and I felt like I had a chance,” Morikawa said Wednesday. “I went in there and I was nearly sobbing because I had to go tell (Nicklaus) that I had to withdraw. It sucks because you show up to certain events and you just, you have this thing about an event that you just love, and I love this golf course.”

Morikawa, 27, is a two-time major champion since turning pro in 2019, having won the PGA Championship in 2020 and The Open in 2021. Among his six victories on the PGA Tour is his win at the Workday Charity Open held at Muirfield Village in 2020, but that didn’t come with a handshake from Nicklaus.

Another shot to win the Memorial came in 2021, when Morikawa lost to Patrick Cantlay in a playoff.

“Oh, it would be so special,” Morikawa said of getting a handshake from the 84-year-old Nicklaus, an 18-time major champion. “Look, what Jack has done for this game, what his voice does, what he represents, it’s a lot. You can’t replace history, you can’t replace someone like that, so to have that chance hopefully come Sunday, it would mean the world. …

The post Morikawa Gets Second Chance at Jack’s appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
Location: Dublin, Ohio, June 6-9
Course: Muirfield Village Golf Club (Par 72, 7,571 Yards)
Purse: $20M (Winner: $4M)
Defending Champion: Viktor Hovland
FedEx Cup Leader: Scottie Scheffler

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday: 12:30-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
X: @MemorialGolf

PROPS
–Collin Morikawa to beat Xander Schauffele (+105 at DraftKings): Schauffele claimed his first major title in his most recent start and has been a top-10 machine with nine through 11 2024 events. But Morikawa has also rediscovered elite form, posting consecutive fourths and five top-10s over his past five starts. It has been a whirlwind few weeks for Schauffele since his breakthrough major victory, while Morikawa hunts for his first win since October.

–Viktor Hovland as top Scandanavian (+140 at BetMGM): After a rough start to 2024, Hovland reconnected with his previous swing coach and immediately contended until the 72nd hole at the PGA Championship. He also won at Muirfield in a playoff last year, but does have to fend off stiff competition in this prop. Ludvig Aberg (+150) has skyrocketed to sixth in the world with five top-10s already this year, while Alex Noren (+275) has displayed strong recent form that includes six top-20s in his past nine starts.

The post PGA Tour: The Memorial appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

DUBLIN, Ohio – Viktor Hovland defeated Denny McCarthy in a playoff to win the 2023 Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, earning his fourth career PGA Tour title. Hovland has won on Tour in each of the last four seasons (only other players to do so are Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm)

Runner-up Denny McCarthy earned the best finish of his Tour career, moving inside the Top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings (No. 26) and the Top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking (career-high No. 35).

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler carded a 5-under (67), three strokes better than any other player in the final round, to finish solo third place. Scheffler’s Strokes Gained: Tee to Green total of 20.692 is the second-highest mark in a 72-hole event in the ShotLink era behind only Vijay Singh at the 2004 Deutsche Bank Championship (21.140).

Tournament 54-hole co-leader Rory McIlroy (T-7) carded a painful 3-over (75), his highest final-round score on Tour since the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard.

Andrew Putnam (T-5), Adam Schenk (T-7) and Lee Hodges (T-12) qualify for the 2023 Open Championship as the top-three finishers at the Memorial Tournament not otherwise exempt.

The Memorial | Final Leaderboard

Viktor Hovland 71-71-69-70—281 (-7)*

Denny McCarthy 71-72-68-70—281 (-7)

Scottie Scheffler 74-73-68-67—282 (-6)

Si Woo Kim 71-68-71-73—283 (-5)

Andrew Putnam 71-72-71-70—284 (-4)

Jordan Spieth 69-72-72-71—284 (-4)

Playoff: Hovland def. McCarthy with a par-4 on the first extra hole (No. 18)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

The post Hovland Takes The Memorial appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

DUBLIN, Ohio – World No. 3 Rory McIlroy, bidding for his 24th career PGA Tour win and second win of the 2022-23 season (The CJ CUP in South Carolina) made 8-foot, 9-inch putt to save par on No. 18 and earn a share of the 54-hole lead. He shot a (70).

Four-time PGA Tour winner Si Woo Kim (T-1), who joins McIlroy in Sunday’s final pairing, is seeking his second win of the 2022-23 season (Sony Open in Hawaii) and his first multi-win season on the Tour.

Both players in Sunday’s final pairing (McIlroy, Kim) have won on Tour this season and are previous winners of THE PLAYERS Championship (2019/McIlroy, 2017/Kim).

At No. 160 in the Official World Golf Ranking, David Lipsky could become the first player from outside the Top 50 to win the Memorial Tournament since 2017 (No. 65 Jason Dufner).

Five of the 13 players standing T-9 or higher are seeking their first PGA Tour win – David Lipsky (T-1), Denny McCarthy (T-4), Lee Hodges (T-4), Mark Hubbard (T-4), Patrick Rodgers (T9).

There are 22 players within three strokes of the lead.

The 36-hole leader Justin Suh fell to T-14 and is three strokes off the lead after third-round (77), his highest score since a final round (78) earlier this season at The RBC Heritage.

The Memorial | Leaderboard After 54 Holes

Rory McIlroy 72-68-70—210 (-6)

Si Woo Kim 71-68-71—210 (-6)

David Lipsky 69-69-72—210 (-6)

Denny McCarthy 71-72-68—211 (-5)

Viktor Hovland 71-71-69—211 (-5)

Wyndham Clark 70-71-70—211 (-5)

Lee Hodges 72-69-70—211 (-5)

Mark Hubbard 69-70-72—211 (-5)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

The post PGA Tour: McIlroy Tied for Lead appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

DUBLIN, Ohio – The 2014 FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel converted a five-stroke lead beginning the final round into his seventh career PGA Tour title, winning by four-shots over Aaron Wise. Horschel improved to 3-for-5 when attempting to convert a 54-hole lead/co-lead on Tour.

Horschel’s 52’ 10” putt at the par-five 15th marked his first eagle in 576 holes played at the Memorial Tournament and secured the victory while it ended the Tour streak of winners coming from behind in a final round at four, including seven-shot rallies from Justin Thomas (PGA Championship) and Sam Burns (Charles Schwab Challenge).

Wise was seeking his second career PGA Tour title and first since the 2018 AT&T Byron Nelson, where coincidentally, Horschel was defending champion.

Reigning FedEx Cup champion and defending Memorial Tournament champion Patrick Cantlay finished T-3 in his bid to join Tiger Woods (2000 and 2001) as players to successfully defend a Memorial Tournament title.

The Memorial | Final Leaderboard

Billy Horschel 70-68-65-72—275 (-13)

Aaron Wise 70-69-69-71—279 (-9)

Patrick Cantlay 72-69-69-71—281 (-7)

Joaquin Niemann 71-69-70-71—281 (-7)

The post Memorial: Horschel Shakes WIth Jack appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

DUBLIN, Ohio – The 2014 FedEx Cup Champion, Billy Horschel, leads by five-strokes, tying the largest 54-hole lead/co-lead on Tour this season. Horschel holds the 54-hole lead/co-lead for the fifth time in his career and is 2-for-4 to date converting to victory.

Second-round leader Cameron Smith seeks his first Top-10 in seventh start at the Memorial while reigning FedEx Cup champion and defending Memorial Tournament champion Patrick Cantlay sits T-7 and is seven strokes off the lead.

Aaron Wise sits T-2 and (-8) as he seeks his second PGA Tour victory in his 117th start. Wise won at the 2018 AT&T Byron Nelson.

The Memorial | Leaderboard After 54 Holes

Billy Horschel 70-68-65—203 (-13)

Aaron Wise 70-69-69—208 (-8)

Cameron Smith 67-69-72—208 (-8)

Daniel Berger 70-72-67—209 (-7)

Francesco Molinari 71-68-70—209 (-7)

Jhonattan Vegas 69-69-71—209 (-7)

The post The Memorial: After 56 Holes appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

DUBLIN, Ohio – Cameron Smith vs Cameron Young vs The Field!

Cameron Smith is making a bid to join Tiger Woods (2001) as the only other player to win the Memorial Tournament and The PLAYERS Championship in the same season. Meanwhile, Cameron Young, Denny McCarthy, and Davis Riley are in search of their first Tour victory.

K.H. Lee (T-2/-7) looks for second win in his last four starts; won AT&T Byron Nelson in back-to-back years (2021-22) for first two PGA TOUR victories; one of three players to successfully defend a title in 2021-22 (Viktor Hovland/World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, Sam Burns/Valspar Championship).

Defending champion Patrick Cantlay sits T-17 at 3-under.

Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau are among notable players to miss the cut.

The Memorial | Leaderboard After 36 Holes

Cameron Smith 67-69—136 (-8)

Denny McCarthy 68-69—137 (-7)

K.H. Lee 67-70—137 (-7)

Davis Riley 67-71—138 (-6)

Cameron Young 67-71—138 (-6)

Jhonattan Vegas 69-69—138 (-6)

Luke List 67-71—138 (-6)

Billy Horschel 70-68—138 (-6)

The post Whole Lotta Camerons at The Memorial appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.