Long Beach continued its campaign to completely take over the professional sports world, last weekend, when Wilson grad John Merrick had a stellar performance at the Masters.  There was plenty of media coverage of Tiger Woods, but Merrick ended up tied with him, as he shot 8-under, tying him for sixth place in the tournament, just one stroke behind Phil Mickelson.  Merrick had the field’s best Sunday, shooting a 66 on the Masters’ final day.

Last weekend was Merrick’s first time playing at Augusta (he earned an appearance with a sixth-place finish at the US Open), though his Sunday-best score has automatically qualified him to play again in next year’s Masters.  “Fun day out there,” Merrick told The Canadian Press.  “I can’t wait to tee it up again next year.”

While he’s not grabbing a lot of headlines (yet), the Masters showing was just another step forward for Merrick, who already has three top ten finishes in 2009.  He currently stands at 19^th on the PGA’s money list, having earned $1,044,012 (almost a quarter of that from his Masters performance). 

The four-year pro’s best tournament of the year was the Bob Hope Classic in January, when he shot a 30-under to grab second place, and over half-a-million dollars in prize money.  Stay tuned to LBPostSports.com, as we’ll keep you updated on how Merrick performs throughout the season!