Scottie Scheffler Wins The Memorial, Heavy Favorite To Capture First Career US Open Victory

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The Memorial Tournament is considered one of the best non-major events on the PGA Tour. It's hosted by a golf legend, Jack Nicklaus, and the course plays hard. To wit, just 11 players finished under par this weekend. That makes it a perfect warm-up for the US Open, which starts on Thursday. 

If The Memorial was any indication, Scottie Scheffler figures to contend for his first career US Open title. Scheffler had a few bumps on Sunday, but the four-stroke lead he took into the final round proved too much for anyone to overcome, though Collin Morikawa gave him a run and finished one shot back. 

Scheffler captured the tournament title for the first time after finishing in third place both last year and in 2021. Winning Nicklaus' tournament is a massive honor for PGA Tour players, but it's still not a major. And that's where everyone's attention now turns. 

PGA Tour star Scottie Scheffler won The Memorial Tournament, hosted by Jack Nicklaus, in a warm-up to the upcoming US Open at Pinehurst.

PGA Tour star Scottie Scheffler won The Memorial Tournament, hosted by Jack Nicklaus, in a warm-up to the upcoming US Open at Pinehurst.

(Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

That's especially true for Scheffler. The last time we saw him at a major was last month's PGA Championship when police arrested Scheffler shortly before the start of the second round. 

Since then, Scheffler has been cleared of all charges. And his golf game hasn't suffered much from the ordeal. He had a rough third round of the PGA Championship, but still managed to post a Top 10 finish. 

Last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge, Scheffler tied for second place. This season has been incredibly dominant for the world's best golfer, as Sunday's victory marked his fifth victory of the season, all coming in his past eight starts. 

That puts him in very rarified air and brings to mind a certain dominant golfer named Tiger Woods. That's the territory that Scheffler is in right now, and if you don't believe me, just look at the sports books. Scheffler is no worse than 4-1 at any of the major online US sportsbooks to win the US Open and as low as 3-1. 

Scheffler had the shortest pre-tournament odds to win The Masters (which he did) and the shortest odds to win any major since Tiger Woods back in 2013.

Scheffler is a machine, but the two major victories he has have both come at the Masters. Not that he hasn't been close, though. He tied for second at the US Open in 2022 and finished third last year. 

Winning majors isn't easy though, so Scheffler has his work cut out for him heading to Pinehurst on Thursday. I wouldn't bet against him, though. 

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.