John Merrick (golfer) John Merrick (golfer) John Sampson Merrick (born March 20, 1982) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Merrick was born and raised in Long Beach, California. He grew up playing Recreation Park municipal golf course, a classic layout by William F. Bell. He attended Wilson Classical High School where he won the Moore League High School Championship. Merrick won the Southern California Golf Association Amateur Championship when he was only 19 years old, making him the youngest person since Tiger Woods in 1994 to capture that title. In 2003, he medaled at the Pac-10 Men's Golf
Tiger Woods 2000 U.S. Open, where he broke or tied nine tournament records in what "Sports Illustrated" called "the greatest performance in golf history", in which Woods won the tournament by a record 15-stroke margin and earned a check for $800,000. At age 24, he became the youngest golfer to achieve the Career Grand Slam. At the end of 2000, Woods had won nine of the twenty PGA Tour events he entered and had broken the record for lowest scoring average in tour history. He was named the "Sports Illustrated" Sportsman of the Year, the only athlete to be honored twice, and