Hovland beats McCarthy in playoff to win PGA Memorial
Norway's Viktor Hovland parred the first extra hole to defeat American Denny McCarthy in a playoff on Sunday to win the Memorial tournament for his fourth US PGA Tour title.
The 25-year-old from Oslo, a runner-up in last month's PGA Championship, had not won on tour since the 2021 World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico.
Seventh-ranked Hovland, Sunday's only player to birdie the 17th hole, and McCarthy, whose lone bogey came at 18, each fired a two-under par 70 to finish 72 holes on seven-under 281 at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.
In the playoff at the par-4 18th hole, McCarthy found the right rough and pitched into the fairway while Hovland reached the green in two. McCarthy missed a par putt from just inside 12 feet and Hovland sank a par putt from just inside seven feet for the trophy.
"I've been playing well. I've just been trying to stay within myself and play my own game. Maybe before I would have fired at some pins I shouldn't have fired at.
"I just played smart, played my game and came up clutch this time."
Hovland contended late at the Masters before settling for a share of seventh and shared third at The Players Championship in March as well as his PGA runner-up effort, making the Memorial triumph that much sweeter.
"Feels even better after a few close calls the past few months," he said. "It's fun to win one of these without ball-striking it to death. Now I can rely on some other strengths as well."
It was a gut-wrenching loss for McCarthy, who settled for his best PGA Tour result. He led down the final holes with clutch par putts only to bogey 18 in regulation and the playoff after missing the fairway off the tee.
"I battled really hard," McCarthy said. "Heartbroken right now, but a lot of positives to take from this week. My putter kept me in it when I was a little shaky. Hit a lot of good golf shots this week."
On a day when the average score soared above 75, top-ranked Scottie Scheffler -- who made the cut on the number and began Sunday five strokes adrift -- fired a 67 to finish third in 282, one shot out of the playoff.
South Korea's Kim Si-woo, a 54-hole co-leader, was fourth after closing on 73 with Americans Jordan Spieth and Andrew Putnam on 284 and American Andrew Schenk on 285 with 54-hole co-leader Rory McIlroy, who stumbled to a 75.
Hovland made three birdies and three bogeys in the first 12 holes to stay within reach, then sank a birdie putt from just outside four feet at the par-5 15th and made a 27-foot birdie putt at the par-4 17th to pull one back of McCarthy.
Hovland found greenside rough at 18 but saved par from inside six feet and reached a playoff when McCarthy found left rough and missed a 23-foot par putt on his 72nd hole.
"I didn't feel like I hit it my best the whole week," Hovland said. "I just played really smart, really conservatively. I really relied on my short game and I putted awesome this week."
McCarthy, ranked 55th, had a best prior finish of third at the 2021 Honda Classic.
World number 38 Kim, seeking his fifth PGA Tour victory, found water off the 14th tee and made double bogey to fall back.
Scheffler, last year's Masters champion and this year's Players Championship winner, made six birdies in the first 16 holes but found a greenside bunker at 17 and made his lone bogey to miss the playoff.
Four-time major winner McIlroy, who won at Dubai in January, had seven bogeys -- three in a row from 12-14 -- against four birdies.
Reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm, the world number two from Spain, holed out from the fairway to eagle the par-4 ninth from 159 yards. He shot 74 to share 16th on 288.
-
Foreign, multicultural students rise amid declining school populationHodges marches to 3M Open winCoe sees future for CWG七亩地科技挂牌香港股权交易展示中心,数字化“三农”企业跑出“加速度”抖音超600万次传播量!广东省农事运动会乡村直播大赛火出圈主演“微电影” 喻佳丽首次“触电”Meet the 20Juve kicked out of Europe over financial rules breachCoach jailed for sexual exploitation of underage athleteThe evolution of the popular music subreddit r/indieheads
下一篇:Scientists detect water sloshing on Mars. There could be a lot.
- ·Best tablet deals as of August 27
- ·养殖户平均每年退出150万户?2024年养猪业的出路在哪?
- ·New Jersey halts police use of creepy Clearview AI facial
- ·Coe sees future for CWG
- ·How to trademark your TikTok phrase and protect your brand
- ·Teen's terrible drawing of her girlfriend inspires many romantic, unartistic copycats
- ·There is such a thing as too much porn. At least if you're a guy.
- ·Meet the 20
- ·Pragmocracy Now
- ·Facebook swears it's not totally to blame for Jeff Bezos' WhatsApp hack
- ·'I don't know how I did it': Popyrin
- ·Bill Clinton has two ant farms, in case you were wondering
- ·The Astounding World of Automata
- ·The Avril Lavigne conspiracy theory that hasn't died yet, just like Avril Lavigne
- ·What to bring on a plane if your laptop is banned
- ·书法课能顺利走进课堂吗?
- ·11 Telescopes Exploring The Magic of Space
- ·China, Japan poles apart over NK
- ·7 terrifying scenes from Stephen King's 'It' we badly hope are in the movie
- ·I went to a rage room and smashed up a bunch of stuff and it was amazing
- ·全国土壤普查办抽验组到广东开展土壤普查质量抽验
- ·Moon calls for improved ties between Japan, North Korea
- ·Korean workers have low views on whistleblowing effectiveness: poll
- ·Coronavirus might put a wrench in Apple's iPhone production plans
- ·Best smart home deals this week at Amazon
- ·North Korea removing nuclear facilities in test site
- ·Republicans on abortion
- ·Here's the Comey tape transcript Trump so wants you to see
- ·Japan thrash Spain in WWC warning
- ·The evolution of the popular music subreddit r/indieheads
- ·Webb telescope just snapped image of huge black hole gobbling material
- ·‘Marchand can handle Paris Olympics pressure’
- ·Facebook swears it's not totally to blame for Jeff Bezos' WhatsApp hack
- ·Australia witnessing new ‘golden era’: McEvoy
- ·[Online Predators] Deepfake pornography haunts S. Korea
- ·Bill Clinton has two ant farms, in case you were wondering