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Merritt grabs maiden win

Troy Merritt landed his first PGA Tour title after claiming a three-shot victory at the Quicken Loans National.

The 29-year-old, who was in danger of losing his PGA Tour card after five straight missed cuts, started his final round in a share of the lead on 14-under-par and made just one bogey in his final round 67 to reach 18-under-par.

“It’s amazing how you can dream of winning a golf tournament your entire life and you’ve got it scripted and when it happens, you’re not thinking,” said Merritt, who in the third round shot a tournament record ten-under-par 61.

“It was really nice coming down that final fairway with a two-shot lead. Not feeling very much stress, just trying to make as good of a golf swing as I could and, as you saw, it was nice to have only one putt.”

Up and down final round for Rickie

It was a case of ‘what could’ve been’ for Rickie Fowler as he missed out on his third win in as many months.

The 26-year-old, who won the Players Championship before going on to lift the Scottish Open trophy at Gullane, started the final round just one shot behind Merritt but made just six pars on a rollercoaster of a Sunday where he found himself two-over-par for the day after ten holes before finishing with a 69 and alone in second.

“It was better coming in,” admitted Fowler. “I was able to kind of rally and make some birdies coming in but really disappointed with how I went out. I made some good swings but made a few mistakes and didn’t get anything going. Before I knew it I was a couple over-par and fighting my way to get back in the tournament.”

Woods’ wonder shot

In finishing inside the top 20 for only the second time this season, Tiger Woods said he ‘felt like he made some big strides’ as he looks to return to some kind of form.

The 39-year-old, who moved up four places to No.262 in the world rankings, was five-under-par for his final round after the tenth but three bogeys in four holes set him back and he eventually finished with a round of 68 on eight-under-par overall, six shots behind winner Merritt.

One of Woods’ bogeys was on the par-4 12th, where he produced this amazing 220-yard approach with a 5-wood…

Ko upbeat with Open finish

Lydia Ko was delighted with her finish at the RICOH Women’s British Open, despite falling further behind Inbee Park in her quest to regain the world No.1 spot after the South Korean landed her seventh major title.

“This is the best finish I’ve had at the British Open, so I’m going to take the positives out of it,” said Ko, who finished in a tie for third alongside So Yeon Ryu. “I played solid all week and started the week great, and yesterday and the day before it wasn’t working as well.

“I managed to make my mistakes a little less. But I had a lot of fun and tried my best today. My mindset was only to be aggressive, and that might have cost me a double, but everything balances out. I had so much fun here this week and I’m going to take the positives.”

Henry and McArthur in Madeira top three

Scottish pair Scott Henry and Andrew McArthur were second and third respectively at the rearranged Madeira Islands Open on the European Tour, with both players now sitting comfortably inside the Road to Oman top 15.

In the tournament, which was abandoned due to bad weather back in March, Henry finished three shots behind winner Roope Kakko, while McArthur finished three shots further back of his fellow countryman.

McArthur is now fifth in the Road to Oman rankings with Henry seventh, while Jamie McLeary is also inside the top 15 in 12th.