The Homegrown Cinderella

By Jim O'Shea

(AP Photo)

John Merrick. Ever heard of him? No, not John Mayer. John Merrick is a PGA Tour player who won his first tournament on the tour Sunday. The tournament was the Northern Trust Open in Pacific Palisades, CA, which is near Merrick’s hometown of Long Beach. Only 33 miles separate the two cities and only 72, well actually 74, holes separated John Merrick from victory at Riviera Country Club. Here’s how he finally broke through on the PGA Tour.

Thank goodness it wasn’t a one-round tournament because Merrick finished the first round four strokes behind Matt Kuchar. Kuchar shot a seven-under 64, while Merrick finished with six birdies and three birdies in a three-under 69 round.

The second round went much better for Merrick and not as well for Kuchar. Merrick inched two strokes closer as he shaved two strokes off his first-round score in a five-under 66 second round. On the other hand, Kuchar fell off the lead as he finished with a disappointing two-over 73. Two guys who also shot 68s in the first round along with Merrick, Sang-Moon Bae and Frederick Jacobson, were atop the leaderboard after second-round 65s.

Now came moving day on Saturday, and no one understood that better than Bill Haas. Haas carded a seven-under 64 to turn his four-shot deficit into a three-shot lead. But only three strokes behind was John Merrick, who shot a one-under 70. Bill Haas is a wily veteran, shown by his four victories on the PGA Tour, so a three-stroke lead is game-over, right?

John Merrick had other plans. While Haas struggled in the final round in a two-over 73, Merrick came out firing, birding four of his first eleven holes. While Merrick didn’t continue his early surge, he forced Charlie Beljan to make an eighteen-foot putt on number eighteen to force a playoff. Beljan made the putt, so off Merrick and Beljan went to a playoff.

They tied on the first playoff hole, so at least one more hole was necessary to determine a champion. Both left themselves with long birdie putts on the second playoff hole. But, there was a big difference. Beljan’s putt was off the green and uphill, while Merrick putted on the green and was already atop the slope. It’s safe to say that Merrick had the better chance of winning. Beljan, from where he was, stroked the putt well and left himself about five feet for par. Merrick put his putt inside Beljan’s as he left himself only a foot for par. Merrick putted first and tapped in for par. Beljan, who had already made a clutch putt, had another one on his hands. This time he wasn’t as lucky as he missed left on his par putt. So, John Merrick was the 2013 Northern Trust Champion.

Story’s over, right? Well, it would be if Merrick had won a PGA Tour tournament before and if he didn’t grow up and go to college in the area. Merrick proved to know the area, as in location, but surprisingly, he also proved to know the area of winning. This was truly a Cinderella story, homegrown style.