Merritt outpaces Masters champion
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Little-known Troy Merritt one-upped the Masters champion Jordan Spieth at the RBC Heritage.
Merritt shot a 10-under 61 on Friday to tie the course record at Harbour Town Golf Links only a few hours after Spieth wowed the gallery with a bounce-back 62 to match his lowest PGA Tour round.
Merritt tied David Frost’s tournament mark set in 1994 and topped the leaderboard at 12-under 130, a stroke off the 36-hole event record shared by Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson.
Merritt, who opened with a 69 on Thursday, saw Spieth’s score in the morning and knew the opportunity was there to go low.
“Anytime that you match shot for shot with the Masters champ, with the way he’s playing, it’s a pretty good feeling,” said Merritt, whose career best finish is a tie for second last year at the St. Jude Classic.
Spieth looked like the headliner Friday, following a 74 on Thursday with the 62 — which tied his career low.
The 21-year-old Texan has been on a major role the past month, winning the Valspar Championship and finishing second in San Antonio and Houston before capturing his first major title at Augusta National last week.