Memorable victory
DeChambeau leaves Ohio with a trophy and a Nicklaus handshake
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 12foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to beat An Byeonghun and win the Memorial.
“I can’t believe I did it,” said DeChambeau, a winner for the second time on the US PGA Tour.
He had played the Memorial only once before, though the 24yearold Californian has been a regular in central Ohio. He has made it through the 36hole US 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 threefoot 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 evenpar 72 and a sixway tie for 23rd.
The finish was no less entertaining.
DeChambeau went from a twoshot deficit at the turn to a oneshot 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 1under 71. That tied with Byeonghun, who had closed with a 69 in the group ahead and was the first to reach 15under 273.
Kyle Stanley joined them in playoff. He hit into the water on the parthree 12th to fall five shots behind with six holes to play, only to run off four straight birdies, capping the big run with a 30foot 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 ankledeep 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.
“A couple bad breaks on 18,” Stanley said. “I mean in the playoff, if I knock that ball 23 feet right of where it was I would have had a shot. But after hole 12 my chances were looking pretty slim, so to come back and make some birdies com ing in ... it’s a bit of a sour finish, but proud of the way I hung in there.”
Byeonghun 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.”
Patrick Cantlay also had a chance on 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 bunkertobunker on the 17th and made bogey to fall two strokes behind. Cantlay narrowly missed a 25foot birdie putt on the final hole, shot 71 and finished fourth. Peter Uihlein (66) was alone in fifth.
Joaquin Niemann, the 19yearold from Chile, birdied the 18th hole to tie for sixth. That was enough for him to earn special temporary membership on the US PGA Tour, meaning he can get unlimited sponsor exemptions.
Justin Thomas shot 68 and tied for eighth in his debut at No. 1 in the world. He will keep that ranking going into the US Open.
Woods started five shots behind. He pulled to within three shots with a twoputt birdie on the parfive 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.
Woods was second to last in the key putting statistic among the 73 players who went all four rounds.