Viktor Hovland triumphed over Denny McCarthy in a play-off to earn his first victory of the season in the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village.
The Norwegian shot a two-under 70 in the final round which was enough for him to force the play-off with McCarthy who missed the chance the seal first PGA TOUR victory after missing a part shot on the 72nd hole.
A winner was cemented after the first play-off hole on the 18th after Hovland hit a par to secure him his fourth PGA TOUR title and first victory since November 2021.
“I just played smart, played my game and came up clutch this time but yeah it feels even better after a few close calls in the last few months,” Hovland said.
“I didn’t really feel like I hit it my best the whole week. I just played really smart, played conservatively, really relied on my short game which was awesome this week. So it’s fun to win one of these things without just ball-striking it to death. Now I can kind of rely on some other strengths as well.”
Rory McIlroy, seeking his second victory of the season, began the final day tied for the lead alongside American David Lipsky and South Korea’s Kim Si-woo but a disappointing final round meant that the Northern Irishman closed the tournament with a three over 75 which left him finishing tied seventh on three under with American Adam Schenk.
The next event on the PGA TOUR is the Canadian Open taking place between June 8-11 at the Oakdale Golf and Country Club in Toronto.