The top of the leaderboard going into Sunday at Memorial had names like Toms, Couples, and Woods on it. It was Bart Bryant, however, that outlasted all of those guys to pick up his second career PGA Tour victory. His first victory came last year at the Valero Texas Open on the same day the U.S. was beaten badly by the Europeans in the Ryder Cup. Bryant stayed steady all day long, making clutch par saves throughout the round. He and Fred Couples began to separate themselves from the pack on the back nine at Muirfield. Couples took the lead outright with back-to-back birdies on holes 14 and 15. He then bogeyed 16 while Bryant birdied 17, and the two switched places with Bryant moving into the lead.
Bart Bryant made it interesting on the finishing hole by hitting his tee shot into the creek down the left side. He took a drop and hit his approach shot about 15 feet from the hole. He made that clutch putt to get into the clubhouse at -16. Couples missed a very makeable birdie putt on 17 and hit his approach shot past the hole into deep rough at the 18th. He needed to chip in to force a playoff, but he ran the shot by the hole. He did drain the putt for par coming back to give the crowd one last chance to cheer for the fan-favorite Couples. He finished at -15, one shot behind Bryant. The second-place finish was the second in as many years for Couples at Memorial.
Bart Bryant was very emotional after the win and for good reason. It very well could have been Jack’s final appearance in his own tournament, and Bryant spoke about that after his round. “It’s huge,” Bryant said. “It’s a real honor to win here at Jack’s tournament. That was history in the making with what happened Friday, and I’m glad to be part of it.”
The field in the Valero Texas Open last year was definitely nowhere near the caliber of the field this year at Muirfield. If golf fans didn’t know who Bart Bryant was before this week, they sure do now. Bryant had this to say about the players chasing him coming into the final round Sunday. “There were so many good players up there, I knew somebody would shoot 67 or 68 to win,” Bryant said. “I just didn’t know it would be me.”
Tiger Woods didn’t get the victory this week, but he did put some heat on the leaders in the final round. He shot a disappointing 71 in the third round that put him behind the eight ball coming into Sunday’s action. He shot a solid round of 68 in the final round to finish in a tie for third with Jeff Sluman and Bo Van Pelt. Tiger’s scorecard was definitely full of circles and squares, as he carded eight birdies, two bogeys, and one double bogey. Sluman, who held at least a share of the lead after all three rounds prior to Sunday, limped to an even-par 72 in the final round. Van Pelt, who played in the same group with Tiger Sunday, had it to -13 before bogeying the last hole.
Nick O’Hern and Jonathan Kaye finished in a tie for sixth at -11. Lucas Glover, KJ Choi, Jim Furyk, Richard Green, and David Toms all finished at -10 to earn a tie for eighth place. Toms was many people’s pick going into the final round because he had been playing so well the past couple weeks, but back-to-back bogeys on nine and ten combined with a double bogey on the 14th derailed his chances. His putter let him down the entire final round.
Speaking of the putter, Fred Couples had his issues with the putter on Sunday as well. He missed a golden opportunity for eagle on the short par-5 15th hole. He played a wonderful 4-iron to about five feet but slid the putt past the hole on the right. And as I mentioned previously, he also missed a short birdie putt on the 17th hole that would have placed him into a tie with Bryant. Fred Couples hasn’t played on the PGA Tour since The Masters and had this to say about his short game letdown. “When you don’t play much, your short game kills you,” Couples said.
Defending champion Ernie Els never really got things going this week at Muirfield and finished in a tie for 45th. His only finish worse than that so far in 2005 was a 47th place finish at The Masters in April. Other notable finishes include Kenny Perry (T24), Stewart Cink (T45), Chris DiMarco (T52), and Adam Scott (T52). Scott came into the final round in a tie for 10th but shot the worst round of the day on Sunday (81) to finish way down the leaderboard.
If this was the last time the Memorial will be played on the PGA Tour, it sure was a great one as it went down the final hole before a winner was decided. PGA fans can only hope Jack’s tournament stays on the schedule every year from here on out. Now the PGA Tour swings into U.S. Open preparation, with only one tournament to go before the players head to Pinehurst in two weeks. The Booz Allen Classic is next week and is the final tune-up for the U.S. Open.
Here is a final look at the leaderboard from the 2005 Memorial:
Pos Player Tot R1 R2 R3 R4 1 Bart Bryant -16 69 69 66 68 2 Fred Couples -15 71 67 66 69 T3 Bo Van Pelt -12 67 72 69 68 T3 Tiger Woods -12 69 68 71 68 T3 Jeff Sluman -12 65 71 68 72 T6 Nick O'Hern -11 67 70 70 70 T6 Jonathan Kaye -11 67 70 68 72 T8 Lucas Glover -10 67 70 73 68 T8 K.J. Choi -10 69 72 69 68 T8 Jim Furyk -10 73 73 64 68 T8 Richard Green -10 67 72 69 70 T8 David Toms -10 70 70 64 74
Photo Credit: © AP.
Couples has indeed played since the Masters, playing in a couple Asian Tour events. It’s true that he hasn’t played on the PGA tour since the Masters, but he has played in some OWGR-qualifying tournaments.
I really thought Fred had the tournament won but then Bryant started making putts 🙁