DeChambeau sure to savour memorable win at Memorial
Californian earns second Tour victory with birdie on the 18th hole in playoff
For the fourth straight year, Bryson DeChambeau leaves Ohio feeling like a winner.
This time he had a trophy to show for it, and a handshake with Jack Nicklaus to remember.
DeChambeau finally made it easy on himself the third time playing the 18th hole at Muirfield Village on Sunday, rolling in a 12-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to beat Byeong Hun An and win the Memorial.
“I can’t believe I did it,” said DeChambeau, a winner for the second time on the PGA Tour.
He had played the Memorial only once before, though the 24-yearold Californian has been a regular in central Ohio. He has made it through the 36-hole U.S. Open qualifier each of the last three years, all in the Columbus area. This was far more rewarding. DeChambeau watched his putt disappear and raised both arms, pumping them seven times as he yelled above the cheers of fans.
There were no Canadians in the final Sunday.
Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C. was bounced after Saturday’s round, his 1-over 73 eliminating him. The only other Canadian, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., failed to make the weekend cut after rounds of 72 and 73.
Many of the fans lingered at the 18th green Sunday after spending much of the final round as if this might be the day Tiger Woods returned to winning.
It wasn’t. Woods was never a serious factor, especially after missing a three-foot par putt on the 10th hole and hitting another tee shot into someone’s backyard on the 13th hole.
One of his best weeks hitting the ball ended with an even-par 72 and a six-way tie for 23rd.
The finish was no less entertaining.
DeChambeau went from a two-shot deficit at the turn to a one-shot lead after No. 12, and he kept it the rest of the way until a three-putt bogey on the 18th hole from about 55 feet for a 1-under 71.
That tied with An, who had closed with a 69 in the group ahead and was the first to reach 15-under 273.
Kyle Stanley joined them in the playoff. He hit into the water on the par-3 12th to fall five shots behind with six holes to play, only to run off four straight birdies, capping the big run with a 30-foot putt on the 17th to tie DeChambeau.
Just his luck, Stanley hit a tree on the right elbow of the dogleg at No. 18, and it shot the ball across the fairway and nearly into a creek, except the ankle-deep rough was thick enough to slow it. Even so, he could only advance it 100 yards and made bogey for a 70.
In the playoff, his tee shot was enough to the right that the ball was well above his feet in thick grass. Stanley choked up and took
a swing, but the ball squirted out about 30 yards to the right, leading to another bogey, and he was quickly eliminated.
Hun An took some of the pressure off DeChambeau on the second playoff hole, also on No. 18, when he yanked his approach into the gallery. He played a marvellous flop shot out of deep rough to a couple of feet for a certain par, only for DeChambeau to hit his approach 12 feet behind the hole and make the birdie.
“I finally got it right the third time,” DeChambeau said.
“It took me a little bit.” PatrickCantlayalsohadachance Sunday, leading by two shots going to the back nine. But he didn’t make a birdie over his last 10 holes, and he fell back when he went bunkerto-bunker on the 17th and made bogey to fall two strokes behind. Cantlay narrowly missed a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole, shot 71 and finished fourth. Peter Uihlein (66) was alone in fifth.
Joaquin Niemann, the 19-yearold from Chile, birdied the 18th hole to tie for sixth. That was enough for him to earn special temporary membership on the PGA Tour, meaning he can get unlimited sponsor exemptions.
Woods started five shots behind. He pulled to within three shots with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 fifth, but he didn’t make another birdie until he was seven shots behind and only had eight holes left.
“If I just putt normally, I probably would be right there with those guys and up there in the last couple of groups,” Woods said.
“If I just keep building on this, with how I’m hitting it right now, I’m in good shape for two weeks from now.”
The next stop for Woods is the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
DeChambeau will be there, too, his confidence higher than ever.
Now he has PGA Tour titles in successive seasons. And his victory moved him to No. 8 in the Ryder Cup standings.