Viktor Hovland Secures Dramatic Playoff Victory At Memorial Tournament Thanks To 18th Hole Bogey By Denny McCarthy

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat were on full-display Sunday in Dublin, Ohio. That's the site of the Memorial Tournament hosted by Muirfield Village Golf Club. And Viktor Hovland secured the biggest victory of his young PGA Tour career, but in doing so, kept Denny McCarthy from his first win.

Rory McIlroy began the day in a three-way tie for the lead with Si Woo Kim and David Lipsky. But none of those players figured into the final result. McIlroy played very poorly, Si Woo Kim made one huge mistake, and David Lipsky wasn't quite ready for the big stage.

Five players entered the day one shot back: Hovland, McCarthy, Wyndham Clark, Lee Hodges, Mark Hubbard. And two of them helped create one of the most dramatic tournament endings of the season.

Denny McCarthy played excellent all day and had the solo lead for most of the final round. He's the best putter on Tour and it showed Sunday. McCarthy sank pressure putt after pressure putt.

Through 17 holes, McCarthy made 0 bogeys at the very difficult Muirfield Village Golf Club.

Denny McCarthy of the United States lines up a putt during the final round of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Viktor Hovland played well but had a much more up-and-down day. He picked up an early birdie, but otherwise made par on six of the first seven holes.

Viktor Hovland runs into trouble while chasing Denny McCarthy at the Memorial Tournament

But that's when trouble struck. Hovland made bogey on both 8 and 9. He missed a 4-foot putt on eight.

That dropped Hovland to four shots behind McCarthy, who started three-under in his first seven holes.

Hovland bounced back with birdies on 10 and 11 before making another bogey on 12. Talk about a roller coaster of emotions.

Heading into the 15th hole, Hovland trailed by three shots. He made birdie on the par-5 15th to get within two. Stepping up to two of the hardest holes on the course, 17 and 18, Hovland trailed by two.

But then he did something that literally no one else did: he made birdie on the 17th hole. Not one other player did that on Sunday at the Memorial.

Still down one shot, Hovland thought he needed another birdie on 18. But he sent his approach just over the green, and failed to chip it in. He finished off the par to get into the clubhouse at -7. That set the clubhouse lead, dethroning Scottie Scheffer at -6.

All Denny McCarthy needed to was make par on 18 to win the golf tournament. But he pulled his drive way left and nearly hit it into the water. It hung up, but all he could so was pitch it back into the fairway and try to get up-and-down for par.

McCarthy gave himself a chance, but couldn't sink the 23-foot par putt. It was the first pressure putt he missed all day. But it wouldn't be the last.

McCarthy's bogey on 18 set up a playoff between him and Hovland at Muirfield Village

The pair returned to 18 for the playoff. Hovland hit his drive to the edge of the fairway and McCarthy again missed, this time to the right.

McCarthy again left it short of the green, figuring he'd need to get up-and-down just to stay alive.

Hovland hit the green, but sat nearly 60 feet from the cup. McCarthy chipped up to 12 feet and Hovland left his birdie putt just under 7 feet short.

That gave McCarthy a chance to sink another big putt and put the pressure on Hovland. Unfortunately for McCarthy, his par putt hit the lip and just missed.

Hovland, on the other hand, did not miss.

It was great for Hovland, whose previous PGA Tour wins came in much lesser field events. This was an elevated event that came with a $3.6 million prize. Hovland had made $18.4 million in his career prior to the win. That's nearly 20% of his career earning with one victory.

Viktor Hovland of Norway poses with the trophy after winning the Memorial Tournament in a playoff over Denny McCarthy of the United States at Muirfield Village Golf Club. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

For McCarthy, it's a tough loss. He's never won on the PGA Tour.

He was emotional in his post-round interview, as expected. The good news for McCarthy is that second place came with a $2.18 million prize. As a 30-year-old player, this was McCarthy's 157th career event played.

He had made just over $9 million in his career. That's an average of around $60,000 per event played. Not a bad weekend for McCarthy.

Losing sucks, but a nearly $2.2 million payday probably eases the pain.

At least a little.