Merritt Ends Missed-Cut Skid With Solid Play in New Orleans
On the PGA TOUR, the line of success is thinner than Charles Howell III's waist.
Just ask rookie Troy Merritt.
Merritt earned his spot on the TOUR this year with his cool, calm victory at the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament, leading or sharing the lead all six rounds. Great things were expected from the 25-year-old, who had set an NCAA record by winning five consecutive NCAA tournaments while at Boise State.
Merritt did little to lower those expectations when he came out and finished T20 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, T63 at the Bob Hope Classic and T15 at the Farmers Insurance Open. He earned more than $150,000 in his first three starts €" and a lot of respect from his peers.
So what happened next?
Golf's equivalent to a horse-shoe putt. One minute you're looking great, the next you can't believe what just happened.
Merritt missed his next seven consecutive cuts, breaking 70 just three times in 15 rounds. Next thing you know, he had dropped all the way from first to 21st in the TOUR's second re-shuffle €" a priority list that determines tournament access €" following the Shell Houston Open.
Instead of playing well in tournaments, he suddenly had trouble getting into them. Time for a mulligan on those early expectations.
"For me," Merritt said, "it was just a big learning curve. I started off the season so well, I think I got it in my head that this is easy. It definitely isn't easy. Don't let anybody ever tell you it's easy out here."
Once Merritt adjusted his attitude before last week's Zurich Classic of New Orleans, his game quickly returned. At one point Sunday, Merritt was in position to claim his first PGA TOUR victory when he took the lead after going birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie in the middle of his round.
But Merritt was playing well ahead of the other contenders in the truncated, rain-delayed event, and when he finished even-par over his last seven holes for a 67-274 score, champion Jason Bohn and Jeff Overton played well enough down the stretch to pass Merritt.
Still, the third-place finish was Merritt's first top-10 of his TOUR career €" which gets him into this week's star-filled Quail Hollow Championship €" and the $435,200 payday sent him soaring in the FedExCup standings to No. 63 from No. 141.
Last week may very well have been the most important week of Merritt's young TOUR career, at least in the positives that came from it, even more so than q-school. He said the changes he made were mostly mental.
"I thought about what was going on, what I wasn't doing right," he said. "And basically, what it came down to was it was all in my head. Not committing to the shots that I wanted to hit. I was half committing to the shots that people were expecting me to hit. So I came out this week really focused on playing my game how I always played it."
The biggest change came on the greens. He never took more than 28 putts during a round, ranking T6 for the week. As everyone knows, golf tournaments are usually won during the last 10 feet of a hole, not the first 430 yards.
"I slowed my tempo down just a little bit from the backstroke, and it helped me really control pace, get the ball online," said Merritt, who ranks seventh in putting for the season. "As a result, I had no three-putts this week. [I] made a lot of putts, including a lot of 25-foot putts."http://www.golfonline.jp/
Merritt needs another stellar performance this week at Quail Hollow to have a chance to play in THE PLAYERS next week €" his best hope is to be in the top 10 in the FedExCup standings €" but at least he has gotten off the missed-cut train that takes players to Nowhereville. (Merritt could also qualify for THE PLAYERS by being in the top 50 in the world rankings, but he's a distant No. 236.)
So Merritt will probably have to wait another year to get his first chance of playing in the TOUR's signature event. That's OK, because his learning curve isn't over; it just became a little less steep.
Merritt is one of the few out-of-town visitors to New Orleans whose head felt better on the way out of town than when he arrived a week ago. His game improved greatly, as well.
"I did all I can do," he said. "Fired a good number. Posted a low score €" 14-under is a really good golf score. If you had told me I'd shoot 14 under at the beginning of the week, I'd have taken it any day."
Just ask rookie Troy Merritt.
Merritt earned his spot on the TOUR this year with his cool, calm victory at the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament, leading or sharing the lead all six rounds. Great things were expected from the 25-year-old, who had set an NCAA record by winning five consecutive NCAA tournaments while at Boise State.
Merritt did little to lower those expectations when he came out and finished T20 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, T63 at the Bob Hope Classic and T15 at the Farmers Insurance Open. He earned more than $150,000 in his first three starts €" and a lot of respect from his peers.
So what happened next?
Golf's equivalent to a horse-shoe putt. One minute you're looking great, the next you can't believe what just happened.
Merritt missed his next seven consecutive cuts, breaking 70 just three times in 15 rounds. Next thing you know, he had dropped all the way from first to 21st in the TOUR's second re-shuffle €" a priority list that determines tournament access €" following the Shell Houston Open.
Instead of playing well in tournaments, he suddenly had trouble getting into them. Time for a mulligan on those early expectations.
"For me," Merritt said, "it was just a big learning curve. I started off the season so well, I think I got it in my head that this is easy. It definitely isn't easy. Don't let anybody ever tell you it's easy out here."
Once Merritt adjusted his attitude before last week's Zurich Classic of New Orleans, his game quickly returned. At one point Sunday, Merritt was in position to claim his first PGA TOUR victory when he took the lead after going birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie in the middle of his round.
But Merritt was playing well ahead of the other contenders in the truncated, rain-delayed event, and when he finished even-par over his last seven holes for a 67-274 score, champion Jason Bohn and Jeff Overton played well enough down the stretch to pass Merritt.
Still, the third-place finish was Merritt's first top-10 of his TOUR career €" which gets him into this week's star-filled Quail Hollow Championship €" and the $435,200 payday sent him soaring in the FedExCup standings to No. 63 from No. 141.
Last week may very well have been the most important week of Merritt's young TOUR career, at least in the positives that came from it, even more so than q-school. He said the changes he made were mostly mental.
"I thought about what was going on, what I wasn't doing right," he said. "And basically, what it came down to was it was all in my head. Not committing to the shots that I wanted to hit. I was half committing to the shots that people were expecting me to hit. So I came out this week really focused on playing my game how I always played it."
The biggest change came on the greens. He never took more than 28 putts during a round, ranking T6 for the week. As everyone knows, golf tournaments are usually won during the last 10 feet of a hole, not the first 430 yards.
"I slowed my tempo down just a little bit from the backstroke, and it helped me really control pace, get the ball online," said Merritt, who ranks seventh in putting for the season. "As a result, I had no three-putts this week. [I] made a lot of putts, including a lot of 25-foot putts."http://www.golfonline.jp/
Merritt needs another stellar performance this week at Quail Hollow to have a chance to play in THE PLAYERS next week €" his best hope is to be in the top 10 in the FedExCup standings €" but at least he has gotten off the missed-cut train that takes players to Nowhereville. (Merritt could also qualify for THE PLAYERS by being in the top 50 in the world rankings, but he's a distant No. 236.)
So Merritt will probably have to wait another year to get his first chance of playing in the TOUR's signature event. That's OK, because his learning curve isn't over; it just became a little less steep.
Merritt is one of the few out-of-town visitors to New Orleans whose head felt better on the way out of town than when he arrived a week ago. His game improved greatly, as well.
"I did all I can do," he said. "Fired a good number. Posted a low score €" 14-under is a really good golf score. If you had told me I'd shoot 14 under at the beginning of the week, I'd have taken it any day."
