Local boy Merrick soaks it in

John Merrick won a sudden death playoff against Charlie Beljan on Sunday in the Northern Trust Open. It was Merrick’s first PGA Tour victory.

John Merrick won a sudden death playoff against Charlie Beljan on Sunday in the Northern Trust Open. It was Merrick’s first PGA Tour victory.

Monday, February 18, 2013

— John Merrick was a young face in the crowd at Riviera for so many years, dreaming of one day playing the famed course on the PGA Tour.

On Sunday, he did better than that. He won on it.

Merrick hit two clutch shots that led to two pars in a sudden-death playoff and won the Northern Trust Open on Sunday when Charlie Beljan missed a 5-foot par putt on the second extra hole.

Merrick, who closed with a 2-under 69, became only the ninth player to make this tournament his first PGA Tour victory. It could not have come at a better place. Merrick grew up in Long Beach, attended this event as a kid and went to school down the street at UCLA.

“I can’t put this into words,” he said off the 10th green, his eyes welling with tears. “Growing up as a kid, coming out here, I just wanted to play this tournament.”

It was a tough finish for Beljan, famous for having an anxiety attack when he won at Disney late last year. He holed an 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole, similar to the theatrics provided last year by Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley, to close with a 4-under 67 and wind up in a playoff.

He had to make a tough 6-foot putt for par on No. 18 on the first playoff hole. Going to the par-4 10th, 315 yards of sheer nerves, Beljan drove long and left, and his chip didn’t reach the green. He putted his third shot just above the hole, and watched it slide by on the left for a bogey.

Beljan also made bogey on the 10th hole in regulation.

The key for Merrick might have been on the par-5 17th in regulation, when he pulled his second shot from a bunker toward the eucalyptus trees, only to find that he had just enough of a gap to go at the green and escape with par.

More recovery shots followed in the playoff. He was well to the right of the 18th fairway, and hit a hard punch shot that rolled just over the back of the green and allowed him to get up-and-down for par. On the second hole, the dangerous 10th, he laid up too far to the right - nothing short of a perfectly struck wedge could stay on the green, and he pulled it off, the ball settling 18 feet away. A few inches longer and it would have tumbled into the back bunker.

Merrick, who finished at 11-under 273, moved to No. 4 in the FedEx Cup and is virtually assured of qualifying for his first World Golf Championship next month at Doral.

Fredrik Jacobson missed a 4-foot par putt on the 18th hole that would have put the Swede in a playoff. He wound up with a 69 and tied for third with Charl Schwartzel (70) and Bill Haas (73), who also had chances to win at different stages in their rounds.

Conway’s Bryce Molder shot a final-round 68 for a 3-under-par 281 and earned $66,000.

The final round contained far more drama than anyone imagined at the start of the day, when Haas had a three shot lead. Six players were separated by one shot going into the final hour at Riviera, and it easily could have been a repeat of that six-man playoff in 2001 in the cold rain.

Hunter Mahan was tied for the lead after a 30-foot birdie on the 14th, only to drop four shots on the last four holes, including a three-putt bogey from about 30 feet on the par-5 17th. Mahan wound up with a 69. Jacobson was tied for the lead when he missed an 8-foot birdie attempt on the 17th, and then pulled a 4-foot par putt on the last hole and missed out on the playoff. The Swede closed with a 69, and bristled when asked about the final hole.

“You want me to touch that one, only that one? I cannot speak about something else?” he said, before eventually conceding, “The last putt wasn’t very good.”

LPGA

Shin wins in Australia

CANBERRA, Australia - South Korea’s Jiyai Shin won the Australian Women’s Golf Open by two shots on Sunday, finishing with a 1-under 72 to beat world No. 1 Yani Tseng after being tied for the overnight lead with teenage star Lydia Ko.

Shin mixed three birdies with two bogeys in a final round battle with Ko and Tseng of Taiwan, and added the Australian title to her two British Opens among 37 professional victories.

Ko’s share of the lead evaporated quickly when she began the final day with a double bogey and bogey. However, the 15-year-old who was born in South Korea and is based in New Zealand fought back to reclaim the joint lead after 13 holes before Shin dismissed the challenge.

Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a final-round 72 on Sunday to finish at 8-under 284, while Stacy Prammanasudh (Conway) shot a 74 on Sunday to finish a stroke back of Lewis.

CHAMPIONS Langer wins by 1 stroke

NAPLES, Fla. - Bernhard Langer shot a final-round 72 and won his second ACE Group Classic title in three years by one stroke on Sunday.

Langer two-putted from 50 feet on the 18th for par to finish at 12-under 204, ahead of Jay Don Blake at Twin Eagles Club’s Talon Course.

Langer, who won this tournament in 2011 and was runner-up last year, survived three bogeys and a double bogey. It was his 17th victory on the Champions Tour, and the seventh year he has won at least one tournament.

EUROPEAN

Fichardt wins 4th title

EAST LONDON, South Africa - Darren Fichardt of South Africa scored a final round 71, 1-under par, to win golf ’s Africa Open by two shots today.

Fichardt finished on 16-under in East London, South Africa. His compatriot Jaco van Zyl and France’s Gregory Bourdy were joint second.

It was Fichardt’s fourth victory on the European Tour and clinched him a prize of 158,500 euros ($212,000).

Leaderboard PGA TOUR NORTHERN TRUST OPEN At Riviera Country Club Course (Par 71, 7,349 yards), Los Angeles Purse: $6.6 million Final round (x-won on second playoff hole) x-John Merrick ........ 68-66-70-69-273 Charlie Beljan .......... 67-71-68-67-273 Bill Haas .................. 70-67-64-73-274 Fredrik Jacobson .... 68-65-72-69-274 Charl Schwartzel ..... 69-67-68-70-274 Also Bryce Molder ....... 74-65-74-68-281 Phil Mickelson ......... 71-67-72-71-281 - Complete results, Page 6C

Sports, Pages 17 on 02/18/2013