William McGirt pips Jon Curran to Memorial title
Monday 6 June 2016 14:23, UK
William McGirt upstaged a star-studded field to claim his maiden PGA Tour title at The Memorial after edging out Jon Curran on the second play-off hole at Muirfield Village on Sunday.
McGirt kept a bogey off his card for 20 holes in blustery conditions on the final day, and a sublime up and down from a tough position over the back of the final green earned him the biggest payday of his career in front of tournament host Jack Nicklaus in Dublin, Ohio.
The 36-year-old was rock solid for much of a final round that was interrupted by an hour and a half due to a passing thunderstorm, carding 17 pars and a lone birdie at the fifth to card a 71 and tie Curran at the top on 15 under.
Curran had earlier recovered from an opening bogey to fire a battling two-under 70 which included one of the shots of the week at the 17th, where he bunkered his drive but struck a stunning 188-yard second to seven feet before holing the putt for birdie.
McGirt did well to get down in two from over 60 feet on the 72nd green, and he continued his blemish-free run with a brilliant bunker escape to three feet at the first extra hole as Curran's 22-foot putt for the win grazed the edge of the cup.
The combatants tapped in for par and returned to the 18th tee, and both men flew the green with their approaches and left themselves with difficult pitches from the lush, rear rough.
Curran was unable to hold his ball on the top tier of the green and was unable to save par from 40 feet, but McGirt made perfect connection with his pitch and held his nerve to roll in the winning putt from six feet.
The leaders had finished a shot clear of Dustin Johnson, who looked likely to take control of the tournament when he cruised to the turn in 33 to reach 16 under before his composure deserted him and he bogeyed three of the next four holes.
Johnson clawed a shot back with a birdie at 15 only to give it straight back at the next, and a birdie at the last from five feet proved scant consolation as a back-nine 38 added up to a disappointing 71.
Former champion Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland also reached 16 under par on the outward nine but, like Johnson, both faltered after the turn and finished two strokes off the pace alongside Rory McIlroy.
Woodland could not haul himself back into contention after three straight bogeys from the ninth, while Kuchar bogeyed 12 and then doubled the next after taking two attempts to extract his ball from a fairway bunker as the overnight joint-leaders carded 73s.
McIlroy gave his confidence a lift ahead of the forthcoming US Open as he closed with a four-under 68 which featured three straight birdies from the 15th after dropped shots at 12 and 14 left him with too much ground to make up.
JB Holmes returned a 69 to make it a four-way tie for fourth, while world No 1 Jason Day, who started the round just three off the lead, stuttered to an error-ridden 74 with five birdies, five bogeys and a double-bogey five at the short 12th after finding water from the tee.
Day closed on nine under, with world No 2 Jordan Spieth finishing well down the leaderboard after a 73 saw him slip to three under.
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