Round 4: the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance
June 5 2011
9:32 pm
Congratulate Stricker on his win
Steve Stricker held on to win the Memorial Tournament on Sunday. Send him a note of congratulations here and we’ll pass it along to him.
8:22 pm
Stricker wins Memorial by one
DUBLIN, Ohio – Steve Stricker exorcised some back-nine demons Sunday as he won the Memorial Tournament.
Stricker had a two-shot cushion when he came to the 18th hole thanks to sand saves on the two previous holes. He needed it, too, as he found the fairway bunker, hit his second short of the green, chipped to 20 feet and two-putted for bogey.
The victory was the 10th of Stricker’s career – and seven of those have come since he turned 40. Stricker shot four rounds in the 60s at Muirfield Village to finish at 16 under, one stroke ahead of Matt Kuchar and Brandt Jobe.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Stricker said as he walked up to shake the hand of tournament host jack Nicklaus.
The back nine was a particular challenge for Stricker who played it 4 over for the week. He was 20 under on the front nine, though.
“It was a little bit of a struggle since we came out after the rain delay,” Stricker said. “At that point I was just trying not to make a mistake. I had a couple of opportunities early on, and I wish those putts would have gone in, would have freed me up a little bit.
“But I hung tough and hit a couple of crucial putts when I had to.”
8:08 pm
Stricker up by two with one remaining
DUBLIN, Ohio – Another sand save has put Steve Stricker closer to his first victory of the 2011 season.
Stricker found the right greenside bunker with his approach at the par-4 17th hole. But he blasted out to 7 feet and made the putt for par to hold onto his two-stroke lead.
8:05 pm
McIlroy pleased overall
DUBLIN, Ohio — Rory McIlroy knew he faced an uphill battle, trailing Steve Stricker by five at the start of the final round of the Memorial Tournament.
“You know you’re going to have to do something pretty special,” McIlroy acknowledged.
The Northern Irishman gave it a go, too — shooting a 32 on the front side that included four birdies in a row — before signing for a 68. McIlroy had two holes remaining after the weather delay and finished things off on a positive note with an 11-foot birdie putt.
"It was a great way to finish the tournament," McIlroy said. "I felt as if I played really good this week, I just made a few too many mistakes, which really cost me, and we’ll have to try and cut those out before the U.S. Open in a couple weeks’ time. But there’s definitely a lot of positives to take from how I’ve played this week."
McIlroy heads to Haiti on Monday on a mission for UNICEF. He’ll return to the States on Wednesday and play several rounds at Congressional in advance of the U.S. Open.
"I feel as if I drove the ball really good, putted the ball really good this week," the 22-year-old said. "Game is in good shape. I feel really good about it.
"My putting has been very solid the whole week, so you know, that’s a huge positive to take into the U.S. Open. … If anything, just a little bit of strategy more than anything else, just if you’re going to miss shots, miss it in the right places.
"This week if you miss greens it’s very penal here and you get punished quite easily. It’s the same as the U.S. Open, if you miss it in the wrong places you’re looking at a 5 or a 6. So it’s just something I need to address a little bit."
7:49 pm
Stricker makes clutch save
DUBLIN, Ohi0 — Steve Stricker has just made a huge up-and-down from the bunker at the 16th hole to preserve a two-stroke lead with two holes remaining in the Memorial.
Stricker, who had to play out left of the pin with the newly formed pond staring him in the face, made a 16-footer to save par. His longest made putt on the back nine this week was half that distance.
Meanwhile, his closest competitor was in the process of hitting his approach at the 18th hole in the bunker. Matt Kuchar blasted out to 8 feet and made the putt to save – which left him tied with his playing partner, Brandt Jobe, who made birdie there from 14 feet.
7:37 pm
Stricker bogeys, race tightens
DUBLIN, Ohio — And things were going so well for Steve Stricker.
He had completed five holes on the problematic back nine and parred each one. But Stricker hit his tee shot well left into the trees at the par-5 15th — not unlike he did on Saturday when he went on to make a bogey.
Stricker’ had to take a drop, and the ball settled in the fescue, considerably below his feet. He did hit a solid third shot back into the fairway, though.
Stricker then had 142 yards from an upslope to the green for his fourth shot, and the ball landed 25 feet from the pin. Stricker sent his par putt 4 feet past the hole. He made it coming back for bogey — and is now 3 over on the back nine for the week.
Stricker now owns a two-stroke lead, now over Matt Kuchar, who just squandered an 11-foot birdie chance at the par-5 15th and two-putted from 29 feet at the 16th. Stricker bogeyed Nos. 15 and 16 in the third round.
7:08 pm
Play resumes at Memorial
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The final round of the Memorial Tournament resumed at 6:56 p.m. ET. The total delay was 2 hours, 34 minutes.
You can watch live coverage streamed on PGATOUR.COM and CBSSports.com. Coverage will also be shown on the Golf Channel, alternating with the ShopRite LPGA Classic. Once the LPGA event is over, the network will carry the Memorial to its conclusion.
6:38 pm
Johnson’s game coming around
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
DUBLIN, Ohio — When the final round of the Memorial Tournament began Dustin Johnson trailed Steve Stricker by seven shots.
He made those up Sunday with a sterling 65 that tied Vijay Singh for the low round of the tournament. Unfortunately for Johnson, though, Stricker didn’t get stuck in neutral.
When Johnson finished at 12 under — which was the overnight lead — he owned solo fourth, six strokes behind the lead. Stricker had just hit his tee shot at the 13th hole when play was suspended by a dangerous weather situation.
"Starting the day I was a little too far back," Johnson said. "But I made a good run. I knew if I played a good round today that I could get up there maybe in the top five, and that’s what I was trying to do.
"But you know, I felt like I played really well all week, just didn’t score that well. But today I finally got out of my round what I thought I should have.
"It was nice. I finally feel like my game is coming around and I’m starting to play a little better."
Johnson, who now has Fred Couples’ long-time looper Joe LaCava on his bag, says he’s been struggling off and on all year. He did finish second at the world Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship and tied for third in San Diego. But Sunday’s finish was his first top-10 in his last six starts.
"Just haven’t really been that consistent," Johnson said. " I’ve had some good weeks and had some really bad week.
"Last week I played fairly well, and this week really the game turned around. I’m starting to hit a lot of good golf shots, driving it in the fairway and holing some putts. I’m definitely excited about going into the U.S. Open."
6:23 pm
Play to resume at 7 p.m.
DUBLIN, Ohio – It’s official. The final round of the Memorial Tournament will now resume at 7 p.m. ET.
The range opened at 6:20 p.m. to allow players to warm up again. There are 14 players remaining on the course — the final group of Steve Stricker and Jonathan Byrd had just hit their drives on the 13th hole.
The remainder of the final round will be streamed live on PGATOUR.COM and CBSSports.com.
In addition, Golf Channel will provide coverage of both the Memorial and ShopRite LPGA Classic beginning at 7 p.m. When the LPGA event ends, likely at 8 p.m., the coverage will switch exclusively to the Memorial Tournament.
5:30 pm
Lefty’s week ends on positive note
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
DUBLIN, Ohio — Phil Mickelson was one hole away from a really, really good round on Saturday.
As it was, the 67 was Mickelson’s low round of the week. He made five birdies and an eagle before closing things out with a frustrating double bogey at the 18th hole.
Mickelson, who was playing with Kevin Streelman, couldn’t be too disappointed, though. He hit 11 of 14 fairways and all but six greens on Sunday while using 24 putts.
"I played well today," Mickelson acknowledged. "I had fun. Kevin and I both had a good time today and we both were making some birdies, so it was a fun day."
The two fed off each other — Streelman shot 66 to move into a tie for eighth while Lefty finished another stroke behind. Mickelson’s birdie putts came from 16, 4, 5, 9 and 39 feet.
The eagle putt at the 15th hole was another long one of 36 feet. When he finished Sunday afternoon Mickelson was ranked first in approach shot distance to the pin, as well as distance of putts made.
"I hit the ball pretty well tee to green throughout the week," Mickelson said. "I didn’t putt the best the first few days, but putted pretty good today."
Mickelson, who was heading up to Congressional for several practice rounds prior to the U.S. Open, wants to build on the momentum he gained Sunday with the flat stick.
He was solid this week from inside 10 feet — making 65 of 72 putts. But he was 3 of 14 from 10-15 feet, 2 of 12 from 15-20, 0 for 2 from 20-25 and 2 of 12 over 25.
"It’s really getting a good feel on the greens," he explained. "It’s getting good speed. The first three days my speed was off, so if I had a good read, I either hit it through the break or I’d come up short, miss it low, because I didn’t use enough pace.
“My speed from outside of 6 feet, 6 to 35 feet, the putts you’ve really got to make to get a good round going, was off a little bit the first few days. Today even the ones that missed were rolling about a foot and a half by, which is about the speed I’m looking for."
A U.S. Open title is also on Mickelson’s wish list. He has four majors on his resume –- three Masters and one PGA –- and five close-but-no-cigar finishes at the U.S. Open.
“I’ve come close five times now … which is actually a good sign in the sense that it’s a course or a setup that probably nobody thought I would do well on throughout my career and yet I’ve played some of my better golf in the U.S. Open,” Mickelson said.
“And I just need a few breaks here and there or maybe a few less mistakes here or there to be able to come out on top.”
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