John Merrick takes second spot at the FedEx St. Jude Classic
John Merrick carded a two-under par 68 in the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic to take the second spot, at TPC Southwind, on Sunday, June 10, 2012.
Merrick shared the lead after the third round with three other players, Nick O'Hern, Davis Love III and Ryan Palmer, with a six-under par.
On the final day, he maintained a good score until he found a double bogey on the par-four 12th hole.
Thereafter, he managed to score two consecutive birdies on the 15th and 16th holes. Yet, they were not enough to challenge Dustin Johnson on top of the leaderboard.
Johnson carded a four-under par 66 to surge to the top with the help of five birdies against a lone bogey.
Despite slipping down to the second place on Sunday, Merrick was happy about his overall performance in the tournament.
He said that he was pleased to remain in contention till the end of the tournament, which, at the end of the day, makes him feel proud.
“It was fun. It was a blast,” he said. “I feel like lately I've been in the hunt to make the cut lately. It's why you practice, man. It's fun to be in the hunt, feel pressure, and just proud of how I hung in there”.
“I was just trying to execute shots and play well,” he added. “I was trying not to look at the leaderboard. But, you know, I saw everyone moving up and everyone kind moved back to 7, and I was just trying to hang in there”.
In the meantime, Love and O’Hern both carded a one-under par 69 to slip down to share the third spot on the leaderboard with Chad Campbell. Palmer, however, registered a four-under par 66.
Rory McIlroy, who was looking to get his form back, carded a one-under par 69 to share the seventh spot.
After nine holes, he was in the lead with a nine-under par overall score. However, two bogeys and a double bogey on the back nine of the course forced him to slip down the leaderboard.
Yet, it was a good finish, considering the fact that he did not make a single cut in the last three tournaments that he played.
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