Merritt matches RBC Heritage record in low scoring day at Harbour Town

Jordan Spieth was the heralded player entering the 47th RBC Heritage as the defending Masters champion, and showed he was worthy of the attention and large gallery that followed him Friday morning with a 9-under-par 62 that was one shot off the tournament record.

Troy Merritt did him one better around Harbour Town Golf Links in the afternoon.

The 29-year-old Iowa native shot a 10-under 61 to match David Frost’s mark set in 1994 for the tournament record and takes a four-shot lead into the weekend.

His 12-under 130 is one off the tournament’s lowest 36-hole score of 129 shared by Phil Mickelson (2002) and Jack Nicklaus (1975).

Merritt birdied seven holes on the back nine including the last four and six of the last seven to set a new tournament record with a back-nine 28.

“It's a pretty good feeling to hold a share of that [18-hole] record on a course that has so much history. It's something that I'll always remember,” Merritt said. “I didn't know that the course record was 61 or the low through 36 was 129. Had I known that, I might have started to hit some shanks or try to hole some shots. It was just a lot of fun out there.”

Merritt is still seeking his first PGA Tour win in his fourth season on tour and tops a leaderboard that is a healthy mixture of major champions, established winners and players seeking their first or second PGA Tour wins.

Defending champion Matt Kuchar and John Merrick are tied for second at 8-under 134, and Kevin Kisner and major champions and past Heritage winners Graeme McDowell and Jim Furyk are tied for fourth at 135.

Spieth’s 62 followed a languid 74 Thursday and moved the 21-year-old star within six shots of the lead and into a tie for seventh with 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, first-round co-leader Matt Every, Kevin Streelman and Morgan Hoffmann.

Kuchar is a seven-time PGA Tour winner, while Every and Streelman have two wins apiece, Merrick has one and Kisner and Hoffmann are seeking their first.

Pleasant temperatures, little wind and soft greens from more than 2 inches of rain Wednesday night combined for optimal scoring conditions.

Friday’s stroke average of 69.64 is more than 2.4 strokes fewer than the opening round and just the tournament’s second sub-70 single-round stroke average, behind only a 69.16 average in the third round in 2000. The even-par cut matches the lowest in tournament history.

“With no wind today, you saw a lot of low scores, but that's to be expected with the soft conditions,” said two-time Heritage winner Tom Watson, who made the cut at the age of 65 at even-par 142. “This course is a great course to play because it does give up if you play well, it gives it up. Boy, it will certainly punish you when the weather gets bad.”

Merritt, an alumnus of Boise State University, has one runner-up in last June’s FedEx St. Jude Classic in 85 tour starts. He lost his card and played on the Web.com Tour in 2012 and ’13, and won a Web.com event in 2009.

He has done little this season, as he’s 133rd in FedExCup points with a sixth-place finish last month at the Valspar Championship his only top-25 in 13 starts.

But he caught fire Friday with birdies on holes 2, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17 and 18. Seven of the birdie putts were within 8 feet, reflecting the quality of his ball-striking, while he also drained birdie putts of 11, 13 and 18 feet.

While most of his PGA Tour statistics this season aren’t impressive, he is fifth in the all-important strokes gained putting category.

“It was nice to have the short birdie putts instead of the par putts,” Merritt said. “I've leaned on my putter all year. Inside of 10 feet I felt really good all year. I just haven't been able to get it there for birdie. So today I took advantage of good ball-striking with the irons.”

The 61 is Merritt’s best PGA Tour score by three strokes, and his record back-nine 28 eclipses the previous mark of 29 that was shard by Jeff Maggert (2006), Steve Flesch (‘01), Chris Perry (‘00) and Brad Faxon (‘97).

“Everything kind of slowed down, felt really good,” Merritt said. “I haven't been playing poorly. But every time the tempo goes away, it's hard to find it for me on the course. So it was nice to have the tempo throughout the day. … It's always fun when things are firing on all cylinders.”

Because of the placement nature of Harbour Town, Merritt was largely able to avoid an unreliable driver. “It's nice on this golf course, you can get away with 2-irons and 3-woods off the tee,” he said. “I was able to hit the ball well today and the tempo was good with the irons, which sometimes has been missing.”

Playing with Spieth, Kuchar followed up a 68 in the first round with a 5-under 66 Friday. He is trying to become the first Heritage champion to successfully defend since Boo Weekley in 2008.

Merritt is cognizant of the formidable challengers behind him, and the difficulty in following up an exceptional round on the PGA Tour.

“We still have 36 holes; it's half the tournament,” Merritt said. “We have proven winners behind us. It's go out, take one shot at a time, enjoy the day, smile at the fans, and try to get the ball in the hole.”

This story was originally published April 17, 2015 at 8:59 PM with the headline "Merritt matches RBC Heritage record in low scoring day at Harbour Town."