Troy Merritt Gets First Tour Win At Quicken Loans
- Dan Hauser
- 3 Aug, 2015
Before yesterday, the last time Troy Merritt walked up the 18th fairway on a Sunday was back on June 7th at the Memorial Tournament. Merritt finished T52 that week and would go on to miss his next five consecutive cuts.
Yesterday, for the first time in almost two months, Merritt was once again making his way up the fairway on the 72nd hole of a PGA Tour event, this time in a very different fashion.
Unlike so many other times over his PGA Tour career, Merritt walked the 18th fairway at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club with a three shot lead.
Walking to the tee, he was getting high fives from everyone lining the ropes, walking down the fairway he was getting cheers from everyone. Then, on the 18th green, when a simple 2 or even 3 putt would have secured the win, he drops in a birdie bomb from 34ft to add the icing onto the cake. After everything sank in, Merritt said the whole thing was a surreal experience.
“It’s amazing how you can dream of winning a golf tournament your entire life and you’ve got it scripted and when it happens, you’re not thinking,” he said. “You don’t remember what your name is. You’re just reacting. That’s all it was.”
For Merritt, the win was much more than just the $1.25 million pay check that comes with it. Heading into this week, the Iowa native had never played in a major championship. That now changes, as the win gets Merritt into the PGA Championship in two weeks, as well as next year’s Masters. He will also be able to tee it up at this week’s WGC event at Firestone.
The victory came on the heels of a weekend that saw Merritt set a new tournament record with his 61 on Saturday, followed by his 67 on Sunday, which was the low round of the day. His four day total of 18-under was good for a three shot win over Rickie Fowler, who continued his stellar 2015 season with yet another top five finish.
Then, there was Tiger Woods, who for most of Thursday and Friday looked like the dominant player that we have seen for the last decade plus on the PGA Tour. He shot rounds of 68 and 66 on Thursday and Friday, and after 36 holes found himself just one shot off the lead at one point on Friday. A Saturday 74 derailed him, but he bounced back with a final round 68 to finish at 8-under and in a tie for 18th.
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About Dan Hauser
As an avid golfer and sports enthusiast, Dan has had a passion for sports starting at a very young age. Dan’s other passion has always been writing. Since the time he could write, he has always enjoyed sharing information with people and telling stories through writing. In middle school he combined his two loves by joining the school newspaper in the sports department.
