Rose loses to Lingmerth in Memorial play-off
David Lingmerth recorded a maiden PGA Tour victory at the 40th Memorial tournament after a playoff was needed to separate the Swede and Justin Rose.
Both Rose and Lingmerth were inseparable at 15-under after 72 holes at Muirfield Village, with the 27-year old Lingmerth missing an opportunity for outright victory after missing his birdie putt on the final hole.
A par at the final hole for Rose meant a return to the 18th hole to decide a winner. Lingmerth finding a bunker with his tee-shot, the Swede was unable to match Rose’s recovery ability on 484 yard par-4 hole.
Rose produced a putting masterclass, sinking from 15 feet to par, with Lingmerth matching the Englishman stride for stride to take the playoff to a second attempt at the 18th.
Inseparable at the 18th again, the playoff was taken to a third playoff hole where Rose was unable to match the ice cool Swede after a poor approach cost him the tournament.
“I can’t believe it,” the 27-year-old Swede said. “I’m so happy right now I don’t know where to go.
“It was a fight in the playoff.
“Justin made a great putt on the first playoff hole, and I had it to make one on top of him to extend it. And then I hit a bad second shot and had to scramble for my par on the second one.
“So I was able to do that and I feel pretty good about that.
“This is my third year on the PGA Tour, and it’s one thing to be a PGA Tour player, and it’s a whole another thing, I think, to be a winner out here.
“Just to be on that list of PGA Tour winners is a special feeling and something that no one can take away from me, so I’m pretty happy about that.
And this tournament, with Mr. Nicklaus as host, is‑‑ yeah, I can’t think of many other tournaments that would be put above this one. So I’m pretty thrilled.”
This win improves upon Lingmerth’s previous best PGA Tour finish at the 2013 Players Championship where he finished runner-up to Tiger Woods.
“I knew I handled myself pretty good back then at The Players there. I didn’t end up winning, but I did all right,” said the Swede.
Rose was impressed with his less well-known playoff opponent: “I don’t know him really at all, to be honest with you. Just say “hey” in passing, that’s about it,” said the former US Open winner.
“He seems cool, calm and collected. He did a good job. He kept it together well. And like I said, he finished off some nice putts.”
The Englishman was visibly disappointed after some incredible golf dragged him into contention during the latter stages of the tournament: “I just poured my heart out, really.
“I just didn’t play well. It was definitely a tricky day. Just missed some iron shots, I suppose, starting on No. 3. Just those critical little moments where you leave yourself with tough shots where you can’t get up and down.”
“That’s what this course is all about. That’s what I wasn’t doing the first three day days and I think with the added breeze, it made those mistakes easier to happen.
“I just had one too many bogeys today. I was proud of the way I fought back, and the whole day was just clawing back into contention. It would have been lovely to have won.”
Best & Worst with Andy Sullivan
Andy Sullivan, making his PGA Tour stroke debut, managed a tied-13th finish at nine-under par alongside American duo Dustin Johnson and Kevin Na.
The 29-year old finished high enough up the leaderboard to gain automatic entry into the US Open, and will now make an appearance at Chambers Bay.
“I enjoyed the whole week,” said Sullivan. “I loved every minute of it. I was a little tired towards the end today.
“I’m going to go back to the UK and chill out and have next week off. And then hopefully the U.S. Open, which will be the third venture into the States so I’m looking forward to it.”
Tiger Woods capped off a dismal tournament by following up his career-worst 85 with a two over 74. The former World Number One finished dead last at 14-over par.
How Tiger Woods recorded a career-worst 85
Full leaderboard details can be found here.
