Memorial Tournament: Scottie Scheffler Yet to Forget Trauma as Jack Nicklaus & Xander Schauffele Sheds Harsh PIF Truths

The PGA Tour, along with its most high-profile stars, has landed in Ohio for the Jack Nicklaus-hosted Memorial presented by Workday. Viktor Hovland has returned after the PGA Championship to defend his title in the $20 million Signature event. But Hovland has to fend threats from ever-going Scottie Scheffler, a major-winning Xander Schauffele, and resurgent Rory McIlroy, who has been firing on all cylinders after starting on a muted tempo. Before the tournament began, here is what stood out from the press conference:

Scottie Scheffler has yet to move past the Valhalla saga

Scheffler admitted, quite honestly, that he had yet to move on from the trauma of getting arrested while entering Valhalla. The Louisville Metropolitan Police Department has dropped all the charges. Scheffler said he didn’t want to take legal action against the LMPD because it would be public money that would go into fighting the case for the police department. Regardless, the two-time major winner is still processing it. 

“So kind of operating through that now. It was definitely a bit of a relief, but not total relief because that’s something that will always, I think, kind of stick with me. That mug shot, I’m sure is not going anywhere anytime soon.” Scheffler, funnily enough, also accepted that he had a few speeding tickets and maybe a parking ticket. That’s all the charge you can label against the current World No. 1, who is also a new father to a baby boy.

Xander Schauffele thinks the fracture will be forgotten in a few years

Xander Schauffele feels only one person can move the needle of the PGA Tour-PIF merger faster. That guy, Tiger Woods, unfortunately, plays only a few times a year. Anyone else who thinks they can speed things up is probably thinking a bit too highly of themselves. So, the eight-time PGA Tour winner believes it’s going to take more time than people realize.

“I think there’s a lot of things people don’t realize that need to occur for things to go back together, for everyone to sort of shake hands and move along. There’s been so much damage that’s been done just in, you know, it feels like we’ve been in this mess for a couple years, it’s only been a year.” 

But once a breakthrough is reached and everything sort of comes back to pre-LIV days, four or five years from now, they will perhaps joke around remembering this time. “I don’t know what that will look like, but I imagine people will be competing against each other again, and the fans will have what they want in that respect,” the 2024 PGA Championship winner said.

Viktor Hovland is buoyed by hopes of last year’s success

Hovland, now back with Joe Mayo once again, found his mojo back at the 2024 PGA Championship. The Norwegian parted ways with the famed golf instructor earlier this year, but at the Memorial press conference, the reigning Tour Championship winner said nothing has changed between them. 

Hovland has watched a couple of his previous wins on the PGA Tour on YouTube. Not to feel gleeful but to screen-record his swing from a good angle. Hovland, despite a better performance at the PGA Championship, has skipped the two subsequent events. The World No. 5 has some perspective after tinkering with his game early this year.

 “I mean, the classic saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I mean, you need a very good and valid reason to try to change something if it’s already working, but I do kind of think my track record speaks for itself,” Hovland said at the press conference. 

Jack Nicklaus doesn’t want to bother about the merger

Jack Nicklaus reminded everyone that he is an 84-year-old retired pro. His last full season on Tour came some two decades ago. 2005 was the last time he teed up in any PGA Tour event. So, the fracture in the game is the last thing he has in mind. The 18-time Major winner is more concerned about growing the game across the globe.

Nicklaus, who once dubbed LIV Golf a ‘powerful addition’ even though he rejected the role of being its CEO, believes there are more competent people than him to talk about the merger. Nicklaus has been an advocate for the PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan. And this time too, he placed his faith in the 54-year-old. 

“I think that it’s in good hands and I trust them to solve those problems because I love the game of golf, I love to see the game of golf flourish and grow as we’ve all seen it grow for a long time,” Nicklaus admitted he would love to see all the top players playing more than just in the majors. But it’s not an absolute necessity for the merger. 

With that, the Memorial tees off on Thursday, June 6 at Muirfield Village Golf Club. The winner gets a handshake with the 18-time major winner as part of its long-running tradition. The punishing Muirfield is also a great tune-up to the upcoming U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. Everything, however, happens against the backdrop of an impending PGA Tour – PIF merger.