SAN FRANCISCO:
Collin Morikawa claimed a tense victory on the Pebble Seashore Professional-Am in California on Sunday, heading off a final-day cost by top-ranked Scottie Scheffler that included three eagles.
Double major-winner Morikawa had not triumphed on the PGA Tour since 2023, however began the day in joint-second and birdied the ultimate gap in blustery situations to win by a stroke on 22 underneath par.
“It is particular for lots of causes,” mentioned Morikawa, who used his win to announce that he and his spouse predict their first little one.
“We simply began telling individuals this week, and we mentioned, ‘what higher method… to simply announce it to the world, if I used to be capable of come out and win,'” he mentioned.
Again within the state the place he was born and raised, Morikawa had pulled away from a crowded leaderboard down the stretch with an excellent 30-foot putt for birdie on the fifteenth, and one other birdie on 16.
With benign situations turning gusty within the last hour, Morikawa hooked his tee shot on 17 and will solely handle a bogey from the oceanside tough.
He confronted an agonizing 20-minute wait on the 18th fairway as Jacob Bridgeman, within the previous group, performed a shot from the seashore that cracked off a cliff and again into the ocean.
However a birdie on 18 was sufficient to seal a single-stroke win over Australia’s Min Woo Lee and Austria’s Sepp Straka, with Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood an extra shot again.
“I attempted to look out within the ocean as many instances as I can. I really like being out right here,” mentioned Morikawa, of the delay.
“Pebble Seashore… not many locations can beat this place on this planet.”
Lee — chasing his second PGA Tour win, after a debut victory final March in Houston — shot 65, ending with birdies on the ultimate two holes.
It was in stark distinction to Lee’s end Saturday, when the 27-year-old had bogeyed the ultimate two holes and dramatically tossed his ball into the Pacific Ocean in frustration.
However the day’s finest spherical got here from world primary Scheffler, who began Sunday eight photographs off the lead in joint twenty second, and made a exceptional cost up the leaderboard.
He started in blistering kind with two eagles and three birdies in his first seven holes.
Pushing exhausting for the end line, Scheffler missed lengthy on 4 consecutive holes, choosing up two bogeys in that stretch.
Nonetheless, Scheffler completed with one other eagle for a spherical of 63 and the joint lead at 20 underneath par, simply as winds picked up for the remaining gamers on the course.
It was not fairly sufficient for a well-known win.
“Anytime you’ve got received three eagles in a single spherical, good issues are taking place… Pleased with the way in which I performed in the present day,” mentioned Scheffler.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy additionally had an excellent last spherical, carding 64, however was by no means in competition after three doubles and a triple bogey earlier this week.
“I want I might have these 4 holes again this week. I performed 68 actually good ones,” mentioned McIlroy.
“However all in all, some actually good things this week. Fairly inspired going into subsequent week for certain,” added the world quantity two.
Morikawa’s two main victories got here on the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 Open Championship.
Wins have dried up lately, and he began this season’s tour with a missed lower on the Sony Open in Hawaii, earlier than exploding again into kind at Pebble Seashore.
