Horschel steps up with key eagle
His shot on No. 15 proves to be pivotal to win Memorial
DUBLIN, Ohio — Billy Horschel had a five-shot lead and a good game plan for the Memorial that he had learned by watching tournament host Jack Nicklaus and five-time winner Tiger Woods.
There was no need to try anything special on a course playing as tough as Muirfield Village.
Then the situation called for something special, and Horschel delivered.
With his lead down to two shots, Horschel produced a signature moment of his own Sunday by making an eagle putt from one end of the green to the other on the 15th hole, sending him to a four-shot victory over Aaron Wise.
“If I had to do something special, I was ready for it,” Horschel said. “Making that was huge.”
No one ever got closer than two shots on a sun-soaked final round. Horschel closed with a 72. There were still a few nervous moments.
Horschel’s streak of 49 consecutive holes without a bogey ended on the sixth hole. He didn’t make his first birdie until the 10th hole. He had to scramble for bogey on the par-3 12th that dropped his lead to two over Wise.
Before the long eagle, Horschel saved himself with par putts of 12 feet on the 13th hole and 8 feet on 14.
And then it was over. From the front of the green on the par-5 15th, Horschel’s putt from just inside 55 feet had the perfect line and perfect speed, bending left and dropping in the left side of the cup as he stretched out both arms in a quiet, disbelieving celebration.
“Just like you, big man,” Horschel said to Nicklaus when it was over.
His lead was up to four shots, and it was a comfortable finish. Horschel finished at 13-under 275 and won $2.16 million, the largest paycheck of his career. As an elevated event, the win comes with a three-year exemption.
Wise did what he could in a final round so difficult that no one shot better than 69. He and Joaquin Niemann were the only players to apply any serious pressure on Horschel. He opened the back nine with a pair of birdies and saved par from the back bunker on the 12th. But he dropped a shot on the 13th just as Horschel was looking shaky.
His wedge to the 15th spun back to tap-in range to the hole, and Wise thought he had a chance with Horschel facing such a long putt.
“I thought that was going to be a big turning point for me,” Wise said. “Instead it was kind of the opposite for me. It was a birdie for me, and Billy holed a 50-footer for eagle. That was the turning point for him.”
Wise made a meaningless bogey on the final hole for a 71 to finish alone in second. The consolation prize was a day off on Monday.
Wise moved from No. 88 to No. 44 in the world ranking and is now exempt from 36-hole U.S. Open qualifying.
Luke List moved to No. 59 and also qualified for the U.S. Open.
Cameron Smith, who had the 36-hole lead, also started five shots behind. He had a pair of double bogeys for a 42 on the front nine and was never a factor.
Niemann, who won another elevated event at Riviera in the Genesis Invitational, made a strong move and was creeping within range until his wedge on the 14th found a bunker, leading to double bogey. He answered with two birdies, finished with a double bogey and shot 71. He tied for third with defending champion Patrick Cantlay (71).
EUROPEAN TOUR: In Winsen, Germany, Kalle Samooja finished with back-to-back birdies and shot a course-record 8-under 64 to win the European Open.
It was his first title on the European tour.
The 34-year-old Finn’s eight birdies in the final round — including three in the last four holes — left him 6-under 282 overall as he overturned a seven-shot deficit and secured a spot at the U.S. Open.
Samooja finished two shots ahead of second-place Wil Besseling of the Netherlands (71), who had four birdies along with a double bogey and a bogey.
Overnight leader Victor Perez, the former University of New Mexico golfer who was seeking back-toback victories after winning the Dutch Open last week, carded a 2-over 74 at Green Eagle Golf Courses. He birdied the 10th and 11th to move into a share of the lead, only to bogey three of the next four holes. The Frenchman tied for third with England’s Richard Mansell (70), three shots behind Samooja.