Winners and Losers from the 2015 Quicken Loans National
Troy Merritt overcame a terrible Sunday shirt to fire a final-round 67, capturing the first win of his PGA Tour career.
The Iowa native followed up a spectacular Saturday 61 in steely fashion to top Rickie Fowler by three strokes at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
Merritt, who lists "spending times with family and friends" as his only interest in the PGA Tour Media Guide, is the week's big winner.
Who joins him on the "winner" side of the ledger? Who doesn't? And where does tournament host Tiger Woods land?
Read on to find out.
Winner: Troy Merritt
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Of course, Merritt is a winner this week. The guy set the course record and came back to play golf Sunday, holding his nerve to take home the first PGA Tour trophy of his career.
Merritt was an absolute killer down the stretch, taking dead aim at the flagstick on the par-three 16th hole to set up the tournament-clinching birdie. He poured in another one at the final hole for a three-stroke victory over Rickie Fowler.
Merritt was deadly with his irons all week, hitting 80.5 percent of greens in regulation (third-best in the field), and he was second in birdies, holing 22 for the week.
It was a big-time showing by a guy who had missed his previous five cuts.
Loser: The Course Record
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Merritt toppled the course record at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in the tournament's first contesting at the lakeside Virginia course.
He began the day with five birdies in a row and totaled 11 tweeters on the day against only one bogey, and the inspired showing vaulted the eventual winner from 35th to first position.
Merritt set a new tournament record for the best 18-hole score, which was previously 62 by three players (Anthony Kim in 2009, Hunter Mahan in 2009 and Nick Watney in 2011).
Winner: Tiger Woods
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Woods and the curiosity that is his golf game returned to action for the first time since firing 76, 75 for a quick flight out of St. Andrews.
And unlike in the course of that dismal performance, Woods actually looked something like, well, Tiger Woods this week.
After opening with rounds of 68, 66, Woods took a step backward Saturday with a third-round 74. He was much better Sunday, though, as he penciled in a 68 for his efforts.
There were loose shots, sure, but Woods looked much better than he has in recent tournaments. He hit 64.2 percent of fairways for the week and 73.6 percent of greens and was 11th in birdies.
TW tied for 18th and told ESPN.com's Bob Harig, "It was kind of a mixed bag as far as results, but the fact I had total control of the golf ball was nice."
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Loser: Sunday Bowditch
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Steven Bowditch started the final round at the Quicken Loans National four strokes out of the lead. Thus, the Australian, who has recorded a pair of top-10 finishes this season, looked to be on his way to a third.
That changed abruptly during the final round. He was two over through his opening two holes and never hit the brakes on his journey down the leaderboard.
Bowditch made a staggering four double bogeys en route to a back-nine 44 that saw him creating some interesting designs on the PGA Tour's Shot Tracker.
He carded a final-round 12-over 83 to fall 55 spots on the leaderboard. Bowditch finished tied for 67th thanks to his final-round meltdown.
Winner: Not Wearing a Hat
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Not since Robert Rock has a player had this much success on tour sans chapeau.
Ollie Schniederjans, who turned pro last week, tied for 15th at the Quicken Loans National, continuing his run of improbably good play.
Formerly the top amateur in the world, Schniederjans finished 12th at the British Open and 22nd at last week's Canadian Open, and he did it all without a hat.
The 22-year-old may be the only player on tour who doesn't wear a hat. And if you're concerned the behavior will change now that the young star has an endorsement deal with Callaway, don't be.
According to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post, the golfer said Callaway is "supportive of me doing my thing. I just haven’t worn a hat since I was younger. Didn’t like it. Don’t like how it feels and looks, so I just kind of did my thing.”
Loser: Daniel Berger
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Daniel Berger missed the Quicken Loans National cut by seven strokes.
After making 14 of 21 cuts to start his rookie season on the PGA Tour, Berger looked to be developing into a breakout star; he even finished second at the Honda Classic after losing in a playoff.
Lately, it's been a different story: The Florida native has missed four consecutive cuts and five of his last six.
The young man is struggling with his putter. In Virginia, Berger lost 5.605 to the field average with his flatstick, averaging 2.04 putts per green in regulation. That's not the path to making birdies, and if you can't make birdies on the PGA Tour, you won't stay on the PGA Tour.
Young Berger is officially slumping.
Winner: This Shot from Tiger Woods
7 of 8After hitting his tee shot out of bounds at the par-four 12th hole during his final round, Woods took full advantage of a favorable lie after his resulting drop to produce a bit of vintage Tiger magic.
Of course, vintage Tiger would have canned the resulting putt for par (Woods two-putted for bogey), but we'll take what we can get.
Check out the clip above.
Loser: Sunday Falterers
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Kevin Chappell entered the final round of the Quicken Loans National tied with Troy Merritt at 14 under par.
Chappell, who opened the tournament with a seven-under 64, carded a final-round six-over 77 to finish tied for 18th, 10 strokes behind Merritt. The coup de grace of Chappell's final-round efforts: going six over across six holes on the back nine.
That's disappointing stuff for a guy tied for the lead and in search of his first PGA Tour victory.
Similarly, Bill Haas was six under for his final round through 10 holes and leading the tournament. He made four bogeys and a double bogey in his final seven holes to finish at 12 under, six strokes behind Merritt.
While a tie-for-fourth finish isn't loser-worthy in the abstract, to fritter away a tournament down the stretch has to make Haas feel like one.
All stats via PGATour.com
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