Troy Merritt: Picture perfect!

In the immortal words of Walt Disney, “All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them.” Indeed, just ask Troy Merritt, who lived a few of his on Sunday evening at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic. At the beginning of the day, Merritt’s job and a million dollars were both on the line. With most the day filled with uncertainty, Merritt finished on the number at No. 125 on the money list to keep fully-exempt status on the PGA Tour for 2011, and then he won a three-way playoff with Rickie Fowler and Aaron Baddeley to take the Kodak Challenge prize.

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Rickie Fowler watches buddy and Kodak Challenge leader Troy Merritt knock another shot tight

Last month I was chatting with Intern Kevin, who sounded more chipper than usual talking golf in the fall. “Hey, I’ve got something interesting for you to write about — Troy Merritt could win a million bucks and lose his card on the same day! Probably not what the organizers had in mind,” he said.

Why, that’s an interesting conundrum! At the time Merritt wasn’t in the top-125 on the money list (the players who keep their Tour cards for next year). But a strong finish at the Frys.com bumped him up substantially. Going into the Fall Series finale at this week’s Children Miracles Network Classic, Merritt is No. 121 on the money list. He’s also leading the season-long Kodak Challenge, with the winner taking home a cool million.

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