Title eludes Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy at the Memorial

DUBLIN, Ohio – Scottie Scheffler made it interesting, shooting a final-round 67 to take the clubhouse lead at 6 under par at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday.

But after a two-and-a-half-hour wait to see what would happen, it wasn’t enough. He watched as first Viktor Hovland and then Denny McCarthy finished 7 under par, and Scheffler finished solo third.

Meanwhile, third-round co-leader Rory McIlroy had a day to forget, carding a 3-over 75 (T7).

Scheffler and McIlroy, who along with Jon Rahm have nailed down the top three spots in the Official World Golf Ranking for the last few seasons, will have to win the coveted Jack Nicklaus handshake another day.

“Yeah, I just tried to bring a good attitude coming in,” said Scheffler, who made the cut on the number after struggling with the putter in rounds of 74-73. “The first two days here were really frustrating. It's tough. It's the fourth week in a row. I'm pretty tired. I was in contention at (AT&T) Byron (Nelson), PGA (Championship), and Colonial (Charles Schwab Challenge), and I'm pretty worn out at the moment. I was just proud of how I showed up this weekend and fought.”

Finally taming his misbehaving putter, Scheffler rallied with rounds of 68-67 on the weekend. His stats were alarming: He was +20.692 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, easily the best in the field and nearly nine better than second-best Si Woo Kim. But Scheffler ranked 65th in Strokes Gained: Putting (-8.516).

After a long wait, the world No. 1 watched as Hovland saved par at the last to shoot 70 to finish 7 under par, one better than Scheffler, and that was that. It was finally time to pack up and leave.

McIlroy, one of three 54-hole leaders, went the other direction Sunday.

Just the fact that he was playing in the final tee time seemed auspicious – the last six times he’d been in that position, he’d won five times. He also pitched in for a hair-raising birdie at the par-3 fourth hole.

Alas, that was one of the last things that went right.

In the end, McIlroy simply wasn’t sharp, as might have been expected of a man who came to Muirfield Village still trying to play his way out of a slump. He backed away from his third shot multiple times at the par-5 fifth hole, went over the green, flubbed his chip and made bogey. He made another bogey at the par-5 seventh hole, and the par-3 eighth, too. He was suddenly three behind McCarthy, who was playing mistake-free golf up ahead.

“Those two bogeys on the par-5s on the front nine were unforced errors,” McIlroy said, “and once I was, whatever I was, 1-over through 9 and Denny was at 8-under for the tournament, it was just – it's hard to chase on that golf course the way it's playing.”

Like playing partner Si Woo Kim, McIlroy was bidding to join eight other players who have won THE PLAYERS Championship and the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, but after a birdie at the par-5 11th hole, he gave it right back with a bogey on 12. And he missed his par putt from just 3 feet, 8 inches at the 13th hole.

McIlroy will live to play another day, aiming for his third straight RBC Canadian Open title this week before crossing over to the West Coast for the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

“I hit a couple of loose shots on the back nine that at least I know where they're coming from, which is good,” McIlroy said. “But it's probably – it's a step in the right direction. I feel a little better about everything compared to where I was a couple weeks ago (after a T7 at the PGA Championship) at Oak Hill. It's obviously not the result that I wanted today, but I feel like there was a few more positives than there was a couple weeks ago.”