Troy Merritt: Edged to his second PGA Tour title
Troy Merritt: Edged to his second PGA Tour title

Troy Merritt wins Barbasol Championship by one after delayed final round


Troy Merritt secured his second PGA Tour title with a one-shot victory in the weather-affected Barbasol Championship, with two of Ben Coley's selections tied for second.

Leaderboard

-23 Troy Merritt

-22 Billy Horschel, Richy Werenski, Tom Lovelady

-21 JT Poston

Day five report

Troy Merritt secured his second PGA Tour title with a one-shot victory in the weather-affected Barbasol Championship.

Beginning the delayed final round in a tie for the lead, Merritt sprang to life with an eagle at the eighth as his approach shot from 133 yards found the cup, vaulting him into a clear lead.

Birdies at the 14th and 15th holes saw Merritt keep his nose in front and he was able to make the pars required from there to win by a single stroke from Billy Horschel, Richy Werenski and Tom Lovelady.

Playing ahead of Merritt, our 14/1 tip Horschel started his final round with a pair of birdies and for much of it appeared the man to beat, but his attempt for another at the closing hole lipped out as he was forced to settle for a share of second.

In the same group, Werenski's attempt also missed and it was left to our 80/1 fancy Lovelady, who had made an eagle at 14 followed by a birdie at 17, to throw down the final challenge.

Lovelady's approach to 18 came up well short, however, and after Merritt fired another excellent approach he was able to two-putt his way to victory.

Merritt's previous win came in the Quicken Loans National in 2015 and the 32-year-old had to regain his PGA Tour card via the Web.com Tour finals last year.

"It's pretty special," Merritt told the Golf Channel. "It's been a few years, it's been a struggle and a long time coming."

Day four report

Thunderstorms have seen the Barbasol Championship extended into Monday, with Ben Coley's 80/1 pre-tournament tip Tom Lovelady still in a four-way tie for the lead.

Americans Robert Streb, Hunter Mahan, Tom Lovelady and Troy Merritt were tied at the top on 18 under overall, although none made it out on Sunday as downpours eventually left some holes unplayable.

Lovelady is now a 7/1 chance with Sky Bet with Robert Streb (15/2), Hunter Mahan (5/1), and Troy Merritt (6/1) all in contention behind Billy Horschel - who is the 9/2 tournament favourite, with

Ben Silverman made the biggest gain of the day, rising 27 places up the board to be a shot off the leading pack.

The Canadian picked up seven shots in 10 holes, carding back-to-back birdies on five before play was halted.

Ireland's Seamus Power rose 19 places to tie for 30th after going round 16 holes on four under, leaving him six shots off the pace.

The conditions got the better of Englishman Brian Davis, who was three over for the round after 15 holes, sinking 21 places to tie 62nd.

PGA Tour Tournament Director Steve Carman said: "Mother Nature is just not giving us very much to deal with. Golf course is saturated, so any kind of rain makes it unplayable."

Brittany Lincicome, 32, who became just the sixth woman to compete in a PGA Tour event after starting in Kentucky, earlier missed the cut after round three.

Day three report

Ben Coley's 80/1 pre-tournament tip Tom Lovelady is in a four-way tie for the lead going into the final round of the Barbasol Championship.

He is now a 6/1 chance with Sky Bet while Billy Horschel, a 14/1 selection from our star golf writer, 9/2 joint-favourite as he sits one off the pace.

Robert Streb (7/1), Hunter Mahan (6/1), and Troy Merritt (9/2) are the other players at the top of a wide-open leaderboard. Streb shot a round of 63 with nine birdies, while Mahan carded a 64 and Lovelady a 65.

Merritt could only manage a three-under 69 - but his first-round score of 62 kept him well in contention.

Sam Ryder, Blayne Barber and Horschel make up the chasing pack, just one shot behind, while another two players sit on 16 under overall.

Day two report

Play at the Barbasol Championship in Kentucky was suspended on Friday afternoon midway through the second round because of bad weather making conditions unplayable and dangerous around the grounds.

Tournament organisers issued a mandatory evacuation order for all spectators at the Keene Trace Club, who were told to "seek appropriate safe shelter immediately" as thunderstorms continued.

Eventually, the decision was taken to suspend play for the day at around 3.30pm, with only 41 of the 132 players having been able to complete their second round.

At the time, Troy Merritt, who shot an opening round of 10-under-par 62, held a two-shot lead over Billy Horschel having been able to complete his round of 67, with seven birdies and two bogeys, to sit at five under.

Horschel signed for a 66, which was a stroke ahead of Richy Werenski and Tom Lovelady, who were both at six under for their second rounds, with one hole each left to finish.

Play was halted just 20 minutes before Brittany Lincicome was due to start her second round. The 32-year-old, who is just the sixth woman to compete in a PGA Tour event, shot a 78 in her first round.

Saturday will see play start at 7.30am to complete the second round, with the third-round action to follow.

Day one report

Ben Coley's pre-tournament selection Billy Horschel has halved in price to 7/1 with Sky Bet for the Barbsol Championship after carding an opening round 65.

His seven-under total was enough for a share of second behind leader Troy Merritt, who fired a scintillating ten-under-par 62 to lead by three. He is the 11/2 market leader.

It was an encouraging day too for 80/1 selection Tom Lovelady who is on six-under and now trades at 25/1.

Brittany Lincicome shot a 78 in her first round as she became just the sixth woman to compete in a PGA Tour event. A two-time major winner on the LPGA circuit, the 32-year-old is following in the footsteps of Babe Zaharias, Shirley Spork, Annika Sorenstam, Suzy Whaley and Michelle Wie in Kentucky.

Zaharias is the only one of that quintet to have made the cut, back in 1945, but Lincicome would have been near the middle of the pack were it not for a double-bogey and a triple-bogey at two par threes.

Starting on the back nine, she reached the turn four over having double-bogeyed the 18th. She picked up a shot on the third before a poor tee shot on her third-to-last hole contributed to a six.

"I was a lot calmer than I thought I was going to be, which was a relief," she said in a video published on the PGA Tour's website.

"After that first tee shot I was like, 'Okay, let's go, we can do this'. It was just so much fun being inside the ropes with the guys. I love playing with the guys. (It's) literally two bad holes and if I can do better on those two holes tomorrow I'll be pretty good."

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