The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
DeChambeau wins playoff on second extra hole
DUBLIN, Ohio — 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 the 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-year-old 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 disappeared and raised both arms, pumping them seven times as he yelled above the cheers of fans. Many of them lingered at the 18th green 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 3-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 sixway 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.
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 marvelous 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.”
Woods started five shots behind. He pulled to within three shots with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 fifth hole, but he didn’t make another birdie until he had fallen seven shots behind and only had eight holes in front of him.
“If I just putt normally, I probably would be right there with those guys and up there in the last couple of groups,” Wood 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.”