Scottie Scheffler emulates Tiger Woods with latest dominant win

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World No 1 Scottie Scheffler emulated Tiger Woods by successfully defending the Memorial Tournament title at Muirfield Village.

Only five-time winner Woods had previously retained the crown between 1999 and 2001, but Scheffler claimed a second consecutive success with a four-stroke victory over Ben Griffin.

“Well, you did it again,” tournament host Jack Nicklaus told him walking off the green.

Scheffler has now won three times in four starts after wins at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and PGA Championship.

“It’s pretty cool,” Scheffler told CBS Sports after his 16th PGA Tour victory.

“It’s always a hard week as it’s so challenging to play this tournament.

“I battled really hard over the weekend and Ben made things interesting down the stretch, but overall it was a great week.”

Scottie Scheffler triumphed at the Memorial (Getty Images)

Scheffler took a one-shot lead into Sunday and the chasing pack failed to put him under any concerted pressure.

Birdies at the seventh, 11th and 15th gave Scheffler breathing space in a final round two-under par 70, with a solitary dropped shot coming at the 10th – his first bogey in 32 holes.

Griffin closed with a 73 to finish one ahead of Austria’s Sepp Straka, with Nick Taylor a shot back in fourth.

“You know Scottie’s probably going to play a good round of golf. The guy’s relentless,” said Straka after the round. “He loves competition, and he doesn’t like giving up shots. But it’s one of those courses where it can always happen, so you got to be prepared for it. I felt like I gave myself a lot of chances to kind of make a push.”

England’s Tommy Fleetwood was tied 16th, Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre tied 20th but Shane Lowry, of Ireland, dropped down the leaderboard for a share of 23rd place with a disappointing 77.

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Meanwhile, Rickie Fowler had his first top 10 of the year at just the right time. He made par on the 18th to tie for seventh, earning him the lone available qualification spot for The Open at Royal Portrush in July.

Fowler tied with Brandt Snedeker at one-under but gets the one Open exemption available based on a higher world ranking – Fowler at No 124 and Snedeker at No 430.

“That’s one I’ve wanted on the schedule,” said Fowler, who faces a 36-hole qualifier for the US Open on Monday.

Additional reporting from PA