Golf • Merrick wins Northern Trust Open

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

First Published Feb 17 2013 06:20 pm • Last Updated Feb 18 2013 12:15 am

Los Angeles • John Merrick was a young face in the crowd at Riviera for so many years, dreaming of one day playing the fabled course on the PGA Tour.

On Sunday, he did better than that. He won on it.

Merrick hit two clutch shots that led to two pars in a sudden-death playoff and won the Northern Trust Open on Sunday when Charlie Beljan missed a 5-foot par putt on the second extra hole.

Merrick, who closed with a 2-under 69, became only the ninth player to make this tournament his first PGA Tour victory. It could not have come at a better place. Merrick grew up in Long Beach, attended this event as a kid and went to school down the street at UCLA.

"I can’t put this into words," he said off the 10th green, his eyes welling with tears. "Growing up as a kid, coming out here, I just wanted to play this tournament."

It was a tough finish for Beljan, famous for having an anxiety attack when he won at Disney late last year. He holed an 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole, similar to the theatrics provided last year by Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley, to close with a 4-under 67 and wind up in a playoff.

Merrick, who finished on 11-under 273, moved to No. 4 in the FedEx Cup and is virtually assured of qualifying for his first World Golf Championship next month at Doral.

Fredrik Jacobson missed a 4-foot par putt on the 18th hole that would have put the Swede in a playoff. He wound up with a 69 and tied for third with Charl Schwartzel (70) and Bill Haas (73), who also had chances to win at different stages in their rounds.

Champions Tour

Bernhard Langer shot a final-round 72 and won his second ACE Group Classic title in three years by one stroke over Jay Don Blake in Naples, Fla. Langer two-putted from 50 feet on the 18th for par to finish at 12-under 204

LPGA

South Korea’s Jiyai Shin won the Australian Women’s Golf Open in Canberra by two shots, finishing with a 1-under 72 to beat world No. 1 Yani Tseng

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