American David Lingmerth outlasted England’s Justin Rose in a play-off to claim his first PGA Tour title at The Memorial Tournament, hosted by golfing great Jack Nicklaus in Ohio.

Rose went into Sunday’s final round three shots clear, but struggled to a level par 72 which was only good enough to get him into a play-off with Lingmerth, who had shot a solid final round 69(-3) to finish on 273(-15).

There was drama in the play-off too, as Rose holed a 30-foot par-saving putt at the second extra hole, with Lingmerth still 15ft away for his par. To his credit, Lingmerth remained calm and rolled the putt in to take them to a third extra hole, which Lingmerth won with a solid regulation par as Rose struggled to a scrappy bogey.

It is always interesting to me when a tournament goes to a play-off, as for the players involved the tournament suddenly switches mentally from a stroke play to a match play situation.

In stroke play it is you against the golf course. Play your own game and play to your own strengths. Build a strategy for each hole based upon your own strengths and weaknesses.

You cannot control what everyone else in the field is going to shoot, so stick to your game plan, shoot the best score you can and see how it stacks up.

In match play, however, it doesn’t matter what score you shoot as long as you beat your opponent! In match play you have to play your own game but also ‘play the man’. This means making shot choices depending upon the situation of your match and the position your opponent finds himself in.

If it is you to tee off first, hitting the fairway will put your opponent under pressure straight away, so hit a club you feel confident you can find the fairway with. The last thing you want to do is put yourself in trouble and gift your opponent an easy win.

If your opponent plays first and hits a great shot, you must react accordingly and be aggressive in order to match them.

Conversely, if your opponent puts himself in big trouble, play more conservatively, hit less club off the tee or play for the middle of the green and take advantage of their mistake.

So next time you find yourself in a match play situation, ‘play the man’ as well as your own game.