The American Patrick Cantlay, With a putt for par on the 18th hole, he won the tiebreaker against his compatriot on Sunday Collin Morikawa and was proclaimed the new champion of The Memorial, a PGA Tour tournament that takes place in the Muirfield Village in Dublin (Ohio), at the end of the fourth round with a record of 71 strokes (-1) and accumulating 275 (-13), the The same as the runner-up.
But his triumph, the second he achieved in the tournament, which he had won for the first time in the 2019 edition, was marked with an asterisk after on Saturday, at the end of the third round, the Spanish Jon Rahm had to leave the tournament due to the positive that he gave by Covid-19 when he was leader with six strokes of advantage.
Without Rahm, the fourth round left the fight for the title between the two American golfers, who maintained the equality until on the 18th hole Cantlay was better with the putt from the green, since he managed to tie for the lead with a birdie and then achieved another in the play-off.
That was all that was allowed to come to normal in a tournament that was as much about the type that won as the type that did not play.
The tournament left a new champion, a lot of drama, a little rain at the beginning and no signs of Rahm, the true protagonist of the tournament, who before leaving had tied historical records.
“I would rather have faced him today, finish a low round and beat him that way,” he said. Cantlay after closing the tour. “But unfortunately, there is nothing I can do.”
Cantlay noted that “I did everything I could with the cards that were dealt to me, and I really did a good job of concentrating on the task of completing the course as well as possible and that is all you can do in this game.”
He did it with a better putt than Morikawa, who missed a par putt of less than six feet to extend the playoff.
The PGA Tour reported that Rahm He had been in contact with a positive Covid-19 and was in his contact tracing program, subject to testing every day since Monday. All tests were negative until Saturday, after his rain-delayed second round.
He was informed after tying the 54-hole record at 18 under par and 198. His six-shot lead tied the Memorial record set by Tiger Woods and then he was out of the tournament.
“We are all devastated,” he said. Nicklaus early Sunday. “I wish we could figure out how to give Jon three-quarters of the trophy.”
Rahm he reached 13 under par at the 11th hole on Saturday and kept going. It is unknown how he would have fared on Sunday. No one has lost such a huge lead in the final round at Muirfield Village, though it has happened six times on the PGA Tour, most recently by the American. Dustin Johnson and Shanghai in 2017.
Cantlay achieved his fourth career victory on the PGA Tour and his second this season. Cantlay He also won the ZoZo Championship in California last October, rebounding from a three-shot deficit to beat Rahm and the American Justin thomas.
He also became the seventh player to win The Memorial multiple times, in which he prevailed in 2019, a list that begins with Woods, with five wins, and Nicklaus, the founder of the tournament, with two.
Cantlay won a cash prize of $ 1,674,000 (1,376,000 euros) and 550 points for the FedEx Cup qualification, while Morikawa achieved another of 1,013,700 dollars (832,000 euros) and 315 points.
Morikawa he won at Muirfield Village last year, but not at the Memorial. It was in a tiebreaker against Thomas at the Workday Charity Open, when the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the John Deere Classic.
In that tournament, Morikawa had to see twice like Thomas he had a putt on the 18th green to win, and he survived to prevail on the third extra hole.
For its part, the Spanish Rafael Cabrera he finished the fourth round with a record of 72 (even) and accumulated of 290 (+2) to share the thirty-sixth place with four other players.
Final classification (par 72):
1. Patrick Cantlay (USA) -13 (69-67-68-71-4) (1st hole playoff)
2. Collin Morikawa (USA) -13 (66-72-66-71-5)
3. Scottie Scheffler (USA) -11 (67-71-69-70)
4. Burning Grace (RSA) -10 (68-72-67-71)
5. Patrick Reed (USA) -8 (71-71-69-69)
6. Max Homa (USA) -6 (69-69-72-72)
. Shane Lowry (IRL) -6 (69-71-72-70)
. Jimmy Walker (USA) -6 (74-69-74-65)
9. Si Woo Kim (KOR) -5 (73-70-68-72)
. Aaron Wise (USA) -5 (72-70-70-71)
…
18. Bryson DeChambeau (USA) -1 (71-72-73-71)
. Rory McIlroy (NIR) -1 (72-72-71-72)
. Antoine Rozner (FRA) -1 (72-72-69-74)
37. Rafa Cabrera (ESP) +2 (68-72-78-72)
