Twenty-three year old Collin Morikawa won the PGA Championship today, the first of four majors of this virus-shortened year, by two strokes today with a final round 6-under par 64, the lowest round of the day. In this his first year on the PGA Tour, it put him in some very elite status, being tied with three others who were the youngest winners of the PGA Championship at 23-years of age: Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy.
Sweet-swinging Morikawa seemed right at home in doing so, since he got a business degree just last year at the nearby University of California at Berkeley.
It was the most tightly-bunched leaderboard I think I have ever seen in a major championship, if not any PGA Tour tournament ever. That is so unusual since majors tend to separate the field more than other Tour tournaments due to the more difficult conditions of playing a tough course with gnarly rough, more narrow fairways, and some hard-to-get-at pin positions.
For example, at 5:30 PM Eastern Standard Time, after the last group, which included Morikawa, had played eleven holes, six players were tied for 1st place at 10-under par. And nearly one hour later, it was the same. But on the 14th hole, Morikawa broke the logjam. He chipped into the hole for a birdie three to take the lead by one stroke.
He never let up. In fact, his drive on the 16th hole will be remembered in golf lore for a long time to come. The 16th hole is a 294-yard par four, thus a reachable hole for these long hitters. But to hit driver or three metalwood, thus going for the green, is a big risk-reward shot. Morikawa hit his perfect go-to fade, right at the pin that was tucked close to the right edge of the green, with a greenside bunker there to gobble the slightest imperfection.
Collin Morikawa’s ball stopped seven feet short of the hole. He then proceeded to hit the most perfect putt, right in the middle of the hole at the right speed for an eagle two. He easily parred the last two holes to lift the PGA Championship Wannamaker trophy at the end of the day, with a great big smile on his young-looking face. This is not the only time we are going to be hearing Collin Morikawa on the PGA Tour, especially in the majors.
So, Morikawa won by two strokes as Dustin Johnson and Paul Casey finished tied for second. Johson started today’s final round with a one stroke lead, and journeyman Paul Casey was trying to win his first of 64 majors he has played in so far to become the first Englishman to win the PGA Championship in almost a century.
As for the major cookie monster of late–Brooks Koepka–he had to eat a little humble pie when he shot 74 today to finish 29th after mouthing off yesterday. Whether or not he ate a slice, the jury is still out.
Four-majors winner Koepka has been coming across to the media as a pre-madonna. He used to be friends with one-time major winner Dustin Johnson (DJ), working out together in the gym and so forth. But at the end of yesterday, Koepka said of leader Dustin Johnson, “I like my chances. When I’ve been in this position before, I’ve capitalized. He’s only won one [major]. I’m playing good. We’ll see.” You don’t usually see such trash talking in this gentlemen’s game.
Today, before play started, four-time major champion and class guy Rory McIlroy spoke up about this Koepka trash talk. After all, Irishmen are known for having their say once in a while. Rory said of Brooks’ comment, “If he’s trying to play mind games, he’s trying to do it to the wrong person. I don’t think DJ really gives much of a concern. . . . If you’ve won a major championship, you’re a hell of a player. It doesn’t mean you’ve only won one; you’ve won one and you’ve had to do a lot of good things.
“It’s sort of hard to knock a guy who’s got 21 wins on the PGA Tour [which Johnson has], which is three times what Brooks has.” Well said, Rory.
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