First US PGA Tour win for Troy Merritt

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The fields are so deep that just anybody can win on the US PGA Tour these days. This week it was the turn of world no. 180 Troy Merritt – the 10th first-time winner already this season – who celebrated his first Tour win at the Quicken Loans National in Virginia.

American Merritt finished -18 after carding a -4 67 in the final round, three ahead of world number eight Rickie Fowler (69).

It was a magical moment for Merritt (29) who was clearly deeply shocked by his unexpected success, saying: “When it happens, you’re not thinking. You really don’t even know what your name is.”

England’s Justin Rose was among six players in tied fourth after shooting a 70 to finish -12.

And Tiger Woods at last finally seems to have found some form: he went round in 68 to end -8 in a tie for 18th place.

Woods, now ranked 266th in the world, had recorded three missed cuts, a withdrawal and just one top-25 finish in eight starts on the 2014-15 PGA Tour before the tournament and was well pleased with his week’s work. “Today I started off well and really hit the ball well and I looked at the whole week in general – felt like I made some big strides. I had total control of the golf ball which was nice.”

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