Professional golf had quite a weekend of wonderful competition that had some unique similarities and outcomes.  Scottie Scheffler turned in another terrific performance holding off Ben Griffin and winning Jack Nicklaus’ signature even at the Memorial in Ohio.  Scheffler’s performance was almost a carbon copy of last week’s PGA Championship.   Griffin set the pace and led the tournament for 54 holes and then found himself paired with Scheffler who lurked in the early rounds and when he seized control of the event in the final round-he would not yield.  Griffin was the 54 hole leader and clearly undaunted in being paired with Scheffler in the final round.  Griffin seemed to relish the challenge and approached the final round aggressively as if no one was going to interfere with his march to victory.

The Memorial Course was set up with some US Open style rough and narrow fairways so any errant shots could exact some severe penalty.   Scheffler consistently found the fairways and applied the competitive pressure while holing significant putts.  The beginning of the end for the field started on the par 5, 11th hole as Griffin stroked a mighty 3 wood some 260 yards just off the green in some spinachy rough.   Scheffler followed Griffin with his own shot that barely cleared the green-side creek and also landed in a similar spot in the rough.  Scheffler’s difficult pitch shot was decent but then he drained the 10 ft. putt for birdie.  Griffin chipped to 4 feet but could not hole the putt and that was the beginning of the end.  Griffin did not quit, he nailed a 7 wood, 225 yards to the 15th green as you might think this type of shot might put a little pressure on Scheffler.  No chance…Scheffler grabbed his own seven wood and hit almost exactly the same shot as Griffin to the same position.  The tournament was essentially over as Scheffler marched up the 18th hole with a four shot lead.   Nicklaus was effusive in his praise of Scheffler’s performance citing his significant consistency and focus on what was required to secure victory while his competitors could not mount the shots that were necessary to overcome Scheffler’s lead.  Scheffler capitalized on any opening that was afforded to him.  Scheffler is quite philsophical and humble in the assessment of his play.  He is unfazed by his success but he expects that he will do the best he can and he expects to win without a lot of fanfare.  He takes every event on its merits and focuses on his own game as a quieter version of how Tiger Woods once dominated the PGA Tour.

Stark wins Women’s US Open

While Scheffler was taking over the Memorial, Maja Stark was staring down a bunch of competitors including Nelly Korda at Erin Hills in Wisconsin.  In addition to the competition, the USGA had Erin Hills in a pretty difficult condition where errant shots would be punished in addition to very fast greens.  Stark had played well in US Open championships as an amateur in 2020 and 2021 and was the current Swedish hopeful descending from a long line of Swedish professional golfers including the  GOAT-Annika Sorenstam.   Stark made no mistakes in the final round and executed shot after shot while her competitors made enough mistakes to fall by the wayside and never really threatened to take the lead.  It was similar to a NBA playoff game where the team that’s down 15 points closes the lead but can’t get over the hump.  Nelly Korda played well and hit a number of terrific shots and was within reach of threatening Stark but the putts simply didn’t drop.  Korda has a “love/hate” relationship with the Women’s Open having never been a factor in winning this title despite all of her career achievements.   At Erin Hills, she climbed this mountain and finished second.  On the final hole she needed a birdie to at least put some pressure on Stark as she hit a terrific shot to the green that simply ran through and finished in the rough behind the green.  The shot reminded a bit of Tom Watson’s 8 iron at the Open Championship at Turnberry, which ran through the green and eventually cost him the victory.  Korda’s shot suffered a terrible result and the birdie attempt would end with a bogey.  (same as Watson) Korda was philsophical in her post round comments and when asked what happened out there, her response was “everything.” She further commented “In golf, you lose more than you win, but you learn a lot.”  A classy statement that simply embodies the essence of the game.

Miscellany

I was asked recently how many continents I had traveled to play golf.  My response was that I had played on every continent except Africa.   The following player is a good indicator that my geography capability needs some remedial assistance.

Golf in Antartica