Zurich Classic: Round 4 notebook
Weather: Sunny with afternoon temperatures in the lower 80s. Winds from the south at 10-15 mph.
The third round concluded at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday. The final-round tee times ran from 9:45 a.m. -- 11:45 a.m. and the pairings remained the same from round three.
Jason Bohn shot a final-round 67 for 18-under 270 to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans by two strokes over Jeff Overton (66). Rookie Troy Merritt (67) was alone in third at 14-under. Dual U.S. Open winner Lee Janzen (69) was fourth at 13-under.
Jason Bohn made seven birdies and one bogey in the 30 holes he was required to play on Sunday.
18-under par is the lowest winning total at TPC Louisiana (-13/Tim Petrovic/ 2005, -15/Nick Watney/2007, -13/Andres Romero/2008, -14/Jerry Kelly/2009, -18/Jason Bohn/2010).
Jason Bohn becomes the third wire-to-wire winner on TOUR this year. Previously, Ryan Palmer achieved the feat at the Sony Open in Hawaii, as did Dustin Johnson at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Jason Bohn is the 10th third-round leader/co-leader to win on the PGA TOUR in 2010.
Jason Bohn jumps from 80th on the FedExCup standings to 11th with his win. Jeff Overton jumps from 146th to 41st and Troy Merritt advances from 141st to 63rd.
Speaking of the FedExCup, it was on display with the Lombardi Trophy in the Zurich hospitality suite behind 18 green on Sunday. The New Orleans Saints earned the Lombardi Trophy at the SuperBowl earlier this year.
Jason Bohn made his ninth start on TOUR this week, with a previous-best finish being a T10 at the Northern Trust Open in February. He finished T11 at the Shell Houston Open three weeks ago.
Since 1958, only five winners of the Zurich Classic have been 11-under or better through 36 holes.
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Jason Bohn has four top-25 finishes from nine starts this season (T10/Northern Trust Open, T20/Transitions Championship, T11/Shell Houston Open, 1/Zurich Classic of New Orleans).
This is Jason Bohn's 154th start on the PGA TOUR and his 106th start since his only other win on TOUR at the 2005 B.C. Open -- a stretch of 4 years, 9 months and 8 days.
Jason Bohn now has five appearances at the Zurich Classic, having made the cut just once previously (T20/2008). He missed the cut in 2004, 2005 and 2009.
Jason Bohn earns spots in the 2011 SBS Championship and the 2011 Masters Tournament.
Jason Bohn turned pro in 1992 after winning $1 million in a hole-in-one Shootout while attending the University of Alabama. His annual $50,000 payments from the jackpot will cease in 2012.
Jeff Overton, searching for his first TOUR win, was tied with Bohn for the lead at 14-under with four holes to play before finishing 2nd. Overton's previous-best finish was T2 at the 2007 Wyndham Championship.
Jeff Overton had two top-25 finishes from 10 starts coming into the Zurich Classic (T24/Waste Management Phoenix Open, T15/Puerto Rico Open).
The last time Jeff Overton earned a top-5 finish was fifth place at the 2008 Valero Texas Open.
This marked Jeff Overton's 5thconsecutive appearance at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. A T13 last year was his previous-best result. Overton is 25-under in his last nine rounds at TPC Louisiana.
Troy Merritt was attempting to win in just his 11th career start on the PGA TOUR.
Troy Merritt, a Boise State University graduate, was medalist at the 2009 PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament at Bear Lakes with rounds of 67-69-68-67-70-69 410 (22-under).
Troy Merritt made the cut in his first three career starts on the PGA TOUR (T20/Sony Open in Hawaii, T63/Bob Hope Classic, T15/Farmers Insurance Open) before missing seven consecutive cuts coming into the Zurich Classic.
Troy Merritt holed out from 30-yards at the par-4 8th hole for eagle amidst a torrid stretch of excellent play. Merritt went birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie, birdie on Nos. 7-11 to match the best birdie/eagle streak on TOUR this year (Lucas Glover/SBS Championship, Davis Love/Arnold Palmer Invitational).
Lee Janzen holed out for eagle from 85-yards at the 387-yard, par-4 13th hole helping him to a 4thplace finish, his best on TOUR since a third place at the 2006 Viking Classic. Janzen also finished T4 at last year's Verizon Heritage.
Five Australians (Greg Chalmers/5th, Stuart Appleby/6th, Matt Jones/T10, Aron Price/T10, Jarrod Lyle/T10) finished in the top-10 on Anzac Day, a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand observed by both countries every year to honor members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I.
Aaron Price (T10) is playing out of the No. 126-150 on the 2009 money list category and got into this event as an alternate when Shane Bertsch withdrew. The Zurich Classic is Price's fifth start in 2010, having successfully Monday qualified twice this year at the Farmers Insurance Open and The Honda Classic, missing the cut both times. His only made cut before this week was a T33 at the Puerto Rico Open. Price's top-10 finish earns him a start at next week's Quail Hollow Championship, along with fellow Aussie Jarrod Lyle (T10).
Nicholas Thompson (T7), out in the first group of the day, got to 11-under and within two strokes of the lead at the time before a double bogey at No. 15 ruined his run to the finish.
Ted Purdy (T62) aced the 198-yard 14thhole in the final round using a 6-iron. It was the 15th ace on TOUR this year and the first at TPC Louisiana since 2008 when Tim Clark holed out at No. 9. It is also the first ace at No. 14 in tournament history. Here's a look at the aces scored during the Zurich Classic since it moved to TPC Louisiana in 2005.
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David Duval (T53) hit his tee shot at the 336-yard, par-4 8th hole to 9 feet, 1 inch from the cup before holing the putt for an eagle 2. Troy Merritt and Fran Quinn (T67) also made eagles at No. 8.
Defending champion Jerry Kelly finished T67 following rounds of 71-72-70-76.
Chris Couch (T37) is playing out of the Major Medical Extension category, with 21 tournaments to earn $796,087 and retain that status for the remainder of the 2010 season. The Zurich Classic was Couch's 10th start this year. He has earned $605,837 this year and requires $190,250 to retain his current status. A 2-way tie for sixth or better this week would have achieved that goal.
Farmers Insurance Group, a subsidiary of Zurich, will donate $50 for every birdie made during the weekend rounds of the Zurich Classic on behalf of the Fore!Kids Foundation. The donation will go to the March of Dimes via the Birdies for Babies program. Farmers made a similar contribution during the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego earlier this year. 285 birdies were recorded in round three along with 281 birdies in the final round resulting in a $28,300 contribution.
The par-three, 215-yard, 17th hole at TPC Louisiana is this week's Kodak Challenge hole for the second year in a row. Last year, just two birdies were recorded at the 17th in the final round, and a total of 33 birdies for the week. Three birdies were recorded in the final round and a total of 38 birdies for the week. The Kodak Challenge leader is Rickie Fowler at 7-under.
Scoring Averages:
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