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David Lingmerth took a big step forward on Sunday, picking up his first PGA Tour win at the Memorial Tournament.
On the third hole of a sudden-death playoff, Lingmerth’s par on No. 10 at Muirfield Village Golf Club was good enough to beat past Memorial winner Justin Rose and earn the $ 1.12 million first-place check. Perhaps more important to Lingmerth, who had to regain his PGA Tour status after last season through the Web.com Tour Finals, he earned a three-year PGA Tour exemption with the win in Jack Nicklaus’ event.
Both players finished regulation at 15-under 273, though they each got there in very different ways. For the Swede, the last eight holes looked clean as a whistle on the scorecard, playing them in 3 under par.
Rose rode one heck of a roller coaster to the finish, alternating birdies and bogeys, starting with a birdie at the par-4 13th hole. Arriving to the 18th needing a par to force a playoff, Rose’s tee shot found a fairway bunker. He then shanked that bunker shot, hitting a fan with his ball. However, he got up-and-down from 57 yards to get to overtime.
Returning to the 18th tee for the playoff, both players missed the green with their approaches, then both made impressive par putts to extend the golf back to 18 for a third time on the day. Pars got the job done again, sending the playoff to the par-4 10th hole. Lingmerth’s approach found the green, while Rose found himself well left of the putting surface in two. Lingmerth left himself a testy par putt after his birdie bid went uncomfortably long. However, after Rose missed his par bid that never threatened the hole, Lingmerth made his 51st putt inside of 5 feet for the week — he went 51-for-51 — to win his first PGA Tour title.
Though his life changes with his victory, Lingmerth won’t have a chance to celebrate too late into Sunday night. He has a Monday morning tee time in nearby Columbus, Ohio, for the 36-hole U.S. Open sectional qualifier.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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