Screenshot of John Merrick during a press conference after his Northern Trust Open win.
UPDATED 2:15PM | L.A. County Supervisor Don Knabe sent the Long Beach Post the following statement on John Merrick’s recent PGA win:
“I would like to express my congratulations to golfer John Merrick who earned his first PGA Tour victory at this weekend’s Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. John is a former Knabe Cup winner from Wilson High School in Long Beach, who excelled at many of Los Angeles County’s premier public golf courses growing up. It was exciting to see John compete at the highest levels of golf and become the first Los Angeles County native to win the tournament, especially in a playoff situation. John is truly an inspiration to every young golfer that picks up a club at a County course.”
ORIGINAL 11:20AM | Wilson High School graduate and current Belmont Shore resident John Merrick won his first PGA Tour title at the Northern Trust Open, held at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades this past weekend.
The win was a storybook victory for the 30 year-old golfer because of his history with the notoriously difficult course: while a Pac-10 champion golfer at UCLA, Merrick says he would make the drive down Sunset to play rounds at Riviera, never dreaming he would one day secure a million-dollar win on the course’s most difficult hole.
“Growing up as a kid out here, I went to a lot of these tournaments and while at UCLA, I played lots of rounds on this course,” said Merrick in a post-win press conference. “To get a win in my hometown like this is a dream come true. It hasn’t sunk in yet for sure.”
Eventually winning with a final-round finish of 69 and a tournament finish of 11 under par, Merrick defeated 2nd place position Charlie Beljan in a sudden-death on the formidable 310-yard 10th hole, which Merrick made under par not once, but twice, on Sunday.
Merrick, who has been playing on the tour for the last seven years, has remained among the top 100 players his entire professional career. He won first place at Web.com’s Peek’n Peak Classic in 2006 and second place at the 2009 Bob Hope Classic. With the recent Northern Trust Open win, Merrick earned his third consecutive invitation to The Masters, one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the country, held in Augusta, Georgia every April.
Merrick grew up playing at Recreation Park golf course and is now a member of the Virginia Country Club.
“To win a tournament in front of family and friends with people shouting out ‘Bruins!’ and ‘Long Beach!’–and against this field with all the past champions that have played here–it’s just indescribeable,” Merrick said.
To see the final standings from the Northern Trust Open, visit PGAtour.com