John Merrick never allowed himself to think about winning at Riviera in Los Angeles.
Not when he was a kid attending his local PGA Tour event. Not when he was at UCLA and could play the fabled course. And certainly not late Sunday afternoon in a playoff when he faced a daunting 3-iron shot under a row of eucalyptus trees, and his opponent was in the middle of the fairway with a wedge in his hand.But Merrick hit the perfect shot under the trees on the 18th to escape with par, and he followed with another flawless shot to a skinny section of the 10th green on the second playoff hole to 18 feet. He made another par, and won when Charlie Beljan missed a 5-foot par putt.It was the second straight year the Northern Trust Open was decided in a playoff on the 10th, a diabolical par 4.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 third-round leader Bill Haas (73).BrieflyMatch Play: Rory McIlroy will be the No. 1 seed for the Match Play Championship, which begins Wednesday at Dove Mountain, north of Tucson, Ariz., and will face Shane Lowry. Tiger Woods is the second seed and will play Charles Howell III. Luke Donald and Louis Oosthuizen are the third and fourth seeds.Champions Tour: Bernhard Langer two-putted for par from 50 feet on the 18th to finish at 12-under 204 and win the ACE Group Classic in Naples, Fla. Jay Don Blake was second one shot back, and Tom Pernice Jr. and John Cook tied for third.LPGA Tour: Jiyai Shin shot a 1-under 72 to win the Australian Women's Open in Canberra. World No. 1 Yani Tseng shot a 7-under 66 to finish two shots back in second place.European Tour: Darren Fichardt fired a 1-under 71 to win the African Open in East London, South Africa, by two strokes. Jaco van Zyl and Gregory Bourdy tied for second.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
