Sweden’s David Lingmerth came through a sudden-death playoff against England’s Justin Rose to win the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide at Muirfield Village GC.
Sweden’s David Lingmerth came through a sudden-death playoff against England’s Justin Rose to win the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide at Muirfield Village GC.
After both Lingmerth and Rose finished on four-round totals of 273, the pair returned to the 18th to settle the event through extra holes. On the first attempt, Rose holed an excellent putt that looked like it might be a winner for the Englishman, but Lingmerth calmly followed him in to keep things going.
The Swede then got up-and-down from a bunker on the second extra hole to stay alive. On the third extra hole, this time the 10th, Rose drove into thick rough then fired into the gallery. He pitched on to the green and missed his par putt. Lingmerth got down in two from some 45 feet to take the title.
"I can't believe it," the 27-year-old Swede said. "I'm so happy right now I don't know where to go."
Rose might have won the event in regulation play but for a scrappy finish. He cancelled a bogey on the 14th with a birdie on the 15th and repeated the bounceback with bogey on the 16th and birdie on the 17th.
On the 72nd hole, Rose needed par to make the playoff. His drive went into a bunker and he shanked his second shot, it bounced off a spectator’s head and into thick rough. From there, the Englishman played a superb pitch to within feet of the cup and he holed out for his par.
Jordan Spieth played an excellent final round of 65 to climb the board and end the week in a tie for third with Italy’s Francesco Molinari.
After a career-high round of 85 on Saturday, Tiger Woods played the final round alone in front of the field. He carded a 74, but was able to look forward to the U.S. Open in two weeks time.
“Hopefully in two weeks' time, things will be a lot better and I'll be ready to try to win a U.S. Open," he said.
The Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Muirfield Village GC, Dublin, Ohio Jun 4-7 Purse: $6,200,000, par 72
1 David Lingmerth (Swe) 67 65 72 69 273 $1,116,000 2 Justin Rose (Eng) 68 67 66 72 273 $669,600 T3 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 67 69 71 275 $359,600 T3 Jordan Spieth (USA) 68 70 72 65 275 $359,600 T5 Jim Furyk (USA) 69 66 70 70 276 $226,300 T5 Marc Leishman (Aus) 69 67 71 69 276 $226,300 T5 Hideki Matsuyama (Jap) 64 71 71 70 276 $226,300 T8 Keegan Bradley (USA) 68 74 65 70 277 $179,800 T8 Tony Finau (USA) 71 66 73 67 277 $179,800 T8 Kevin Kisner (USA) 67 71 69 70 277 $179,800
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
