Out of the fourth-to-last threesome, World No. 98 Troy Merritt putted his way to a 3-under 34-35=69 in R4 of the Valero Texas Open to conclude on 10-under 278, up three spots to a season-tying-best T4.
The 36-year-old, who improves to 6-for-8 in the event and bags his first result inside the top 30, got there by finishing No. 1 in SG: Putting (9.866), including a 1.769 SGP on Sunday, despite a 3-putt bogey at 16 from 53'4". Afterwards (link below): “Yeah, I have no business standing here on 10-under-par for the tournament with the way I hit the ball off the tee and the way I hit my irons and wedges this week, but man, did I make a lot of putts, and they just kept coming.” This fact-checks as true, as the Boise State product finished 61st SG: Tee-to-Green (-1.123), including a 55th Off-the-Tee (-1.506) and 55th Around-the-Green (-0.717). Today, he camouflaged the aforementioned bogey with four birdies, two from between 10 and 12 feet, and also saved par two times from between eight and 25 feet. For the week, the Iowa native handed in laps of 69-71-69-69, totaled one eagle and 16 birdies against eight bogeys, and records his second top 10 of the season in 13 events, matching a T4 at the AT&T Pebble Beach six starts ago.