John Merrick wins the Northern Trust Open in sudden-death playoffs
John Merrick parred the second extra hole in the sudden-death playoffs of the Northern Trust Open, to record the maiden PGA Tour victory of his career, on Sunday, February 17, 2013.
The PGA Tour event was being staged at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, featuring a strong line-up, vying for a share of $6,600,000 prize fund.
Right from the beginning of the tournament, Merrick remained consistent in his game and finished the tournament on top of the leaderboard.
Entering the final round, he was sharing the second spot on the leaderboard, with a nine-under par three-round score. He then marked a decent start to his final-round campaign, by carding a birdie putt on the first hole that he played.
He then conceded a bogey on the third hole, before adding another shot to his scorecard on the seventh hole, to reach the turn in one under. The back nine of the course also witnessed him recording two birdies against a lone bogey, to finish the 72 holes
in regulation, with an 11-under par 273.
In the meantime, Charlie Beljan fired a four-under par 67, in the final round, to take the share of the lead with Merrick. As a result, the game entered into the sudden-death playoffs, where both the players parred the first extra hole.
The second hole witnessed Beljan making a mistake and Merrick taking advantage of it, even after making a poor tee shot, to take home the prestigious trophy.
It was his second professional career win. His first professional victory came at the Web.com Tour’s, then known as Nationwide Tour, Peek'n Peak Classic in 2006.
“I hit a bad tee shot in the playoff. I just really had no shot,” said the winner while talking to the PGA Tour’s official website. “I didn't really have a good lie down there. It was kind of matted down and I had 170 to the front and 200 to the back, or
200 to the flag, and I had no shot. I mean, I just had to hit like a low cut around there. I was just trying to get something up there right of the flag and it came out perfectly”.
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