Scottie Scheffler turned a Friday disaster into survival at the Memorial Tournament, birdieing three of his last four holes to make the cut and keep his active TOUR streak alive at 76. The world No. 1 was staring at a missed weekend before his late run settled an even-par round in Dublin, Ohio.
He had put himself in trouble early with a shanked bunker shot on the fifth hole and three straight dropped shots, then needed to stay even-par over his last eight holes to avoid an early exit. Scheffler delivered with an approach to 3 feet at the 13th for birdie, missed a 10-footer at the 14th, then poured in a 20-footer at the 15th and a 40-footer at the 16th before closing with two pars.
The scorecard only tells part of what happened. After the round, Scheffler said, “That’s maybe some of the worst I’ve hit it in a couple years,” and added, “I felt like I was going to shoot about 90 today.” He spent an hour on the range with caddie Ted Scott after the round, trying to find something that would carry him into the weekend.
That recovery mattered because the Memorial is a Signature Event, where the cutline pressure is sharper than usual and a player of Scheffler’s standing is expected to be well clear of it. His streak remains the longest active run on TOUR, and the result gives him at least two more rounds in a week that had briefly looked as if it might end before it really started.
There is still a question underneath the save. Scheffler got through Friday, but he also said the ball-striking was among the worst he has had in years, and it is not yet clear whether the trouble was a one-round fluke or something deeper. J.T. Poston, by contrast, shot a 7-under 65, nine strokes better than the scoring average, and said stretches without results can breed doubt before experience pulls a player back. Scheffler has the weekend ahead, with the U.S. Open in two weeks and the British Open next month waiting down the road.
For now, the result is simple: Scheffler made the cut when it looked briefly in doubt, and the rest of the Memorial will tell whether Friday was an ugly outlier or the kind of warning that travels with a player even at No. 1.
