Troy

Merritt

The Iowa native signed four sub-70 rounds this week at El Camaleon. A strong short game got the job done as he was ho-hum on approach (T58 in GIR Percentage) but 6th in Putts per GIR. This will go in the books as his second straight top 15 at the course after going 0-for-3 in that regard prior. Merritt has racked up at least two top 10s in five straight seasons and now he’s halfway there for the 2022-23 campaign. This will be his 10th career podium finish and first since the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic (T2), 16 months ago.

The 37-year-old opened his week with an afternoon tee time and he went straight to work with steady driving (12-of-14 fairways hit). From there, he landed 12 greens in regulation which he turned into six birdies including a birdie bomb from outside of 20 feet at the par-4 16th. Merritt is off to a slow start this season with four finishes outside of the top 55 but he’s off to a much better start this week at El Camaleon. He is making his fifth appearance at the event with last year’s T15 being his most notable finish at the event. This is his first time posting better than T15 after any round at the Mayakoba.

This is the 36-year-old’s fourth Rocket, chasing a missed cut at the inaugural in 2019 with a T8 in 2020, and playoff loss last year after being a 54-hole co-leader (67-68-67-68). That loss, to Cam Davis, came on the fifth hole of sudden death -- fellow 54-hole co-leader Joaquin Niemann having been eliminated on the first playoff hole -- and remains his most recent top-3 finish (of nine total). There were 15 bogey-free rounds today at Detroit Golf Club, 11 from the earlier session, while Merritt turned the trick with three others from the later starters, penciling four birdies on all 14 fairways and 15 greens in regulation and losing 0.664 with the flat stick.

Next week’s start at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., will mark the seven U.S. Open appearance for 39-year-old Stuard, who shot 68-65 on Monday and has qualified for all previous six appearances through the Springfield qualifying site. Also advancing to next week are Beau Hossler (67-68), amateur Maxwell Moldovan, Troy Merritt, Bo Hoag, Sam Stevens and amateur Adrien Dumont de Chassart from Belgium. Nick Hardy finished as first alternate with Jim Herman as second alternate. Missing out on qualifying were world No. 81 Cameron Davis, Scott Piercy, Brandt Snedeker, Robert Streb and Sahith Theegala.

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.

With rounds of 68-67-67, the Boise State product seems destined to continue his feast-or-famine record at the Valspar. In seven prior appearances, he’s missed five cuts, not recording a single sub-par lap in those five, but also finished 6th in 2015 and T8 last year (68-69-68-70). The 36-year-old has 18 holes remaining to improve on his results at the Copperhead Course, and will give chase out of the fifth-to-last twosome on Sunday w/ Xander Schauffele. Thru 54 holes, he’s tallied 19 birdies, No. 1 in that stat, against six bogeys and a double, the double coming today at the par-4 16th (watered tee ball), and ranks a lowly 56th in SG: Off-the-Tee (-0.840) but a lofty 9th in SG: Approach (4.158), including a 2.726 SG: APP in R3.

The Boise State product began the day T10, five adrift of three co-leaders, including eventual champ Tom Hoge (68). He raced out to five birdies in his first six, offset a bogey-5 at 8 with three more circles at 9, 10 and 14, now 7-under on the lap and leading by one, but finished par, par, double bogey-5, par, the double a failed sand save and a 3-putt from 15'4". On 11 (of 14) fairways and 13 greens in regulation, the 36-year-old lost 0.066 strokes around but gained 0.638 off-the-tee, 2.642 on approach, and 1.437 with the flat stick, converting five birdies from between seven and 12 feet. This was his 10th AT&T, fourth top 25, fourth consecutive, and second top 10, joining a T8 in 2018, where he was T3 after 54 holes. For the week, he signed for rounds of 68-67-70-67 (SH-PB-MP), tallied one eagle and 21 birdies versus six bogeys and a double, and ranked 2nd in SG: Approach (4.465) and 11th in SG: Putting (2.755) in the two measures laps at PBGL. The Iowa native, who improves to 5-for-7 on the season with four top 25s, three in his last four, is in the published field at this coming week’s WM Phoenix Open. See link below to post-round comments.

The Boise State product missed his first six cuts in the event but has obviously found something of late, recording three consecutive top-25 finishes in his last three visits and kicking off the recent run with a T8 in 2018, where he was T3 thru 36 and 54 holes, respectively (67-67-69-74). His most recent of two TOUR titles in 264 events came at the opposite-field Barbasol 87 starts ago in 2018 as a 54-hole quad-leader, and has recorded three runner-up finishes since then, including in consecutive years at the Barracuda in 2019 and 2020, the latter at Tahoe Mountain Club in Truckee, California. Thru 36 holes this week, the 36-year-old has posted laps of 68-67 (SH-PB), has totaled one eagle and 10 birdies versus three bogeys, and is currently T11 in Greens in Regulation at 83.33 percent (30/36) and T24 in putts per GIR, registering identical 1.667 numbers in Rounds 1 and 2. Of course, anything can happen as the Iowa native heads over to Monterrey Peninsula CC for R3, but he appears locked in for a fourth straight made cut in the event and another potentially high finish.

The Iowa native, who opened with 68 as well, celebrates his 36th birthday in three days (Oct. 25th). That’s this coming Monday, and could celebrate a day early with a third TOUR title in 261 events. Both of the Boise State product’s prior two were as a 54-hole co-leader, most recently the opposite-field Barbasol in 2018, where he led/co-led after every round (62-67-69-67). He’ll play out of the fourth-to-last 3-ball in R3 with Matt Jones and Lanto Griffin. Merritt, who ranks 7th in Driving Accuracy at the midpoint (69.2%), is quietly in the top 10 thru 36 holes for a fifth time in his last 10 starts dating to last season.

The 35-year-old, who’s getting a little worse each day (67-68-69), is still in the mix for his third TOUR win in 259 events, first since the 2018 opposite-field Barbasol as a 54-hole quad-leader. His first victory, the 2015 Quicken Loans, was also as a 54-hole co-leader, so he’ll attempt is first come-from-behind victory out of the third-to-last pairing in R4 with Mito Pereira. On 11 (of 14) fairways and 12 greens in regulation, the Boise State product outpaced two bogeys at holes 2 and 17 (failed sand saves), with three birdie-4s at 5, 9 and 18, and an eagle-3 at 16 from 5'8" after a stellar approach from 261 yards. He lost strokes on approach (-0.123) and around (-0.349), but gained 1.505 off-the-tee and 0.353 on-the-green.