Scottie Scheffler did the same thing again. His victory in the Memorial marks five wins in his last eight starts, which only adds to the idea that he really is Mr. Inevitable, but his latest victory also shows that he may never be stopped. We’re talking about a guy who became a father for the first time and got arrested in front of the whole world for the last month and still wins golf tournaments.
June 9, 2024; Dublin, Ohio, United States; Meredith Scudder, Bennett Scheffler, Scottie Scheffler, Jack Nicklaus and Barbara Nicklaus (left to right) pose for a photo with the Memorial Tournament trophy at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-KeynoteUSA Sports
Talk of Scheffler winning golf tournaments has almost become stale at this point, so it’s time to talk more about the bigger picture and how we need a Phil Mickelson-Tiger Woods situation to develop to add some juice to the historic streak that we are all witnessing. the moment.
Speaking of history, Sebastian Soderberg was on the wrong side of history on Sunday when he suffered a collapse at the DP World Tour that is legitimately hard to fathom. It’s a real car accident that you just can’t take your eyes off the situation.
Last, and certainly least, the PGA Tour provided an update on its ongoing negotiations with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) that should make the entire sports world roll its eyes.
Another week, another Scheffler victory, another edition of Par Talk.
Scottie Scheffler needs a Phil Mickelson
Scottie Scheffler won the Memorial by one shot over Collin Morikawa. Other than pointing out that he didn’t have the best stuff out of him on Sunday with a score of 2-over in the final round, there really isn’t much to say about the win. What we’re seeing from Scheffler right now is the closest we’ve seen to Tiger Woods, and we’ve been saying it for over a month.
In his last eight starts, Scheffler has been defeated by a total of nine players and has added five trophies to his record. He is unfathomable.
The only, and I mean only, ‘knock’ against Scheffler is that some fans, even in the midst of his storied career, don’t see him as an exciting player to watch. Longtime golf fans, especially anyone who is an above-average player, look at Scheffler in awe. They see his consistency in every facet of the game mixed with a unique swing and are left shaking their heads in disbelief, unable to understand how the man is doing what he is doing.
The casual fan may need a little more energy to feel completely intrigued by Scheffler, which is fair.
The mind of every golf fan over the age of 25 or so has been melted by Tiger Woods’ highlights. Those memories not only include an unlimited supply of great golf shots, but also intense punching, screaming, and a visible killer instinct.
Of course, there will only be one Tiger Woods, but Scheffler goes about his business much differently than the big cat, which is why he needs his own version of Phil Mickelson to step up even further than Woods.
Mickelson is an all-time great, but he was clearly the second player behind Woods in that generation. However, the important aspect is that he was always there to challenge Woods.
Scheffler needs a consistent challenger to emerge to create that sense of rivalry that only adds to the entertainment factor of the sport.
It will be a waiting game to see if Scheffler’s version of Mickelson comes to life. Right now, the sample size is too small to consider Morikawa as that player even though he was there down the stretch at the Masters and again this week. Additionally, we’ll need to see one player specifically get the better of Scheffler once or twice to create that sense of rivalry in the situation.
Sebastian Soderberg reminds us all that golf is very difficult
While Sunday was kind to Scheffler once again, the same couldn’t be said for Sebastian Soderberg in his homeland of Sweden in the DP World Tour’s Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed test.
Soderberg began the final round with an eight-stroke lead and, despite shooting one over on his front nine on Sunday, had the title all but assured. Until he didn’t.
A pair of bogeys on the 13th and 14th holes made things interesting for Soderberg down the stretch, but he still only needed a par on the final hole to secure the victory. The hole started as planned when the 33-year-old found the fairway off the tee, but then found a greenside bunker with his approach shot. What came next was painful to watch.
Soderberg made a 25-foot par putt to win the event, but missed, leaving him with a 1-foot, 3-inch putt to save bogey and enter a playoff with fellow Swede Linn Grant. He proceeded to hit every inch of the hole with his bogey putt, except the bottom of the cup.
Grant deserves a lot of credit after shooting a 7-under round on Sunday, but Soderberg certainly lost the tournament down the stretch. Bad breaks happen in this silly game, but seeing missed putts from outside by a foot is rare.
The PGA Tour – Saudi PIF without update
June 6, 2024 is beyond us, which means we have officially passed the one-year mark since PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Saudi PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan sat down in the set of a cable newsroom and announced a framework agreement between the two parties.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has provided little to no update on negotiations between the PGA Tour and the Saudi PIF. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton//Keynote USA/Getty Images)
A year later, we have received virtually no updates on the ongoing negotiations between the two sides. The PGA Tour shared a press release on Saturday to provide an update on the situation, but “update” is a strong word given that it did not provide any details.
The ‘update’ explained that an in-person meeting took place on June 7 and that the meeting was held in New York City as “talks between both sides continue to accelerate.”
Final point.
Unfortunately, these are the updates we may have to get used to for quite some time to come. The year 2026 has been the subject of some serious conversation when it comes to this new world of golf coming together, with Rory McIlroy even suggesting it would be a positive timeline for things to fall into place.
We’ve been at this for a year and no one knows anything at all.
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