Pettersson Will Never Forget This Memorial

Handy with the wedge and hot with the putter, Carl Pettersson picked up a prestigious trophy, a salute from Jack Nicklaus and a welcome break from U.S. Open qualifying by winning the Memorial on Sunday at Dublin, Ohio.

Pettersson turned a potential bogey into a birdie by chipping in on the par-five 11th and got up and down on three consecutive holes to eliminate any suspense at Muirfield Village, closing with a one-under-par 71 for a two-shot victory over Brett Wetterich and Zach Johnson.

It was the second PGA Tour victory for the 28-year-old Swede, and sweet redemption for how his week began.

Pettersson was No. 51 in the world ranking, one-hundredth of a point from getting into the top 50 and earning an exemption into the U.S. Open. He had planned to go through a 36-hole qualifier the day after the Memorial, but his second victory over the last 12 months was enough to get him to Winged Foot.

“I wasn’t thinking about that at all,” Pettersson said of the possibility of having to qualify for the U.S. Open. “I was just trying to get the job done on the back nine. To win it is just phenomenal.”

Pettersson finished at 12-under 276 and earned $1.035 million. Johnson (70) and Wetterich (67) tied for second and picked up valuable Ryder Cup points, moving them to sixth and seventh in the U.S. standings.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson took himself out of the hunt with bogeys on his first two holes.

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Gil Morgan rallied from two strokes down on the last two holes to win the Allianz Championship by one shot at West Des Moines, Iowa, a week after blowing a final-round lead in the Senior PGA Championship.

Loren Roberts, who had led by as many as three shots on the back nine, hooked his second shot on No. 17 into the water.

Morgan grabbed a share of the lead by sinking a 34-foot birdie putt, and Roberts fell back into second by missing a five-foot bogey putt.

Morgan closed with a four-under 67 to finish at 16-under 197 and break the tournament record by two strokes.

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Seon-Hwa Lee won her first LPGA Tour title, closing with an eight-under 63 to surge past Annika Sorenstam and several other contenders for a three-stroke victory in the ShopRite LPGA Classic at Galloway Township, N.J.

The 20-year-old Lee, second three times this year, birdied her last two holes to finish with the lowest round of the tournament and a 16-under 197 total. Sorenstam (67), Jeong Jang (64) and Sherri Steinhauer (66) tied for second.