Merritt’s ace gives him share of lead
Golfer makes a one on 11th; Niemann shoots 68 to grab share, one up on the field
Troy Merritt aced the 219-yard 11th hole at Detroit Golf Club and shot a 5-under 67 on Saturday for a share of the lead with Joaquin Niemann in the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Niemann, who shared the 36-hole lead with Tom Lewis, pulled into a tie by two-putting from 46 feet at 17. He parred the final hole, the toughest one on the course, for a 68.
Hank Lebioda (66) and Cam Davis (67) were a stroke back, and Brandon Hagy (68) was another shot behind. Lewis (71) was among six players three shots back with a legitimate shot on the relatively short course with receptive greens.
First-rounder leader Davis Thompson (72) was six shots back. After opening with a course-record tying 63, he has played the last 36 holes in 1 over with rounds of 73 and 72
The 35-year-old Merritt made his first hole-in-one on the PGA Tour — with a 5-iron on one bounce — to give him a three-stroke advantage. He had a bogey on the next hole to cut into his cushion on a jam-packed leaderboard and he ended up losing the lead by closing with six straight pars.
Merritt won his second PGA Tour title at the 2018 Barbasol Championship. The next year, he missed two months of competition due to a surgery that removed a rib after he had a blood clot that ran from his chest to his left elbow.
He entered this week with three top-10 finishes this year — including a pair of them in May — to put him within one of matching the most he has had in a year since making his PGA Tour debut in 2010.
Defending champion Bryson Dechambeau missed the cut and left Detroit without speaking with reporters, leaving lingering questions about making a caddie change on the eve of the tournament that he didn’t address in an Instagram post.
“Did not have my best this week, but that is golf sometimes,” Dechambeau wrote.
LPGA: Jin Young Ko chipped in for eagle on the par-4 15th and finished a bogey-free 32hole day in near darkness with a one-stroke lead in the Volunteers of America Classic. Ko returned to overcast and breezy Old American early Saturday, playing the final 14 holes for a 1-under 70 in the suspended second round. After a rest break at her nearby home in Frisco, the 25-year-old South Korean star shot 66 in the third round. Germany’s Esther Henseleit and Finland’s Matilda Castren were tied for second.
Champions: Ernie Els opened a three-stroke lead in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, reeling off five straight birdies on the front nine in a 7-under 65. Els birdied Nos. 2-6 at windy and rainy En-joie Golf Club, added another on the par-4 ninth, made eight straight pars and closed the bogey-free round with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th to get to 11-under 133. Cameron Beckman was second after a 69. He’s winless on the 50-and-over tour after winning three times on the PGA Tour.
European PGA: Australian golfer Lucas Herbert stayed on course for a wire-to-wire victory at the Irish Open by shooting 2-under 70 in the third round for a one-stroke lead. Herbert led by three shots after making four birdies in his opening 10 holes, but bogeys at Nos. 11 and 14 brought the field back into contention at Mount Juliet. Johannes Veerman was the nearest challenger, the No. 350-ranked American shooting 67 to move to 14 under par for the event. Justin Harding was a further two strokes back after a 65, the lowest round of the day, and there were three players at 11 under: Dale Whitnell (71), Francesco Laporta (68) and Rikard Karlberg (67). Rory Mcilroy shot 1-over 73.