Collin Morikawa birdies the 18th to win Pebble Beach and end 16-month drought
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Collin Morikawa went 45 starts over more than two years to finally win again on the PGA Tour, and he faced a wait that felt just as long on the final hole Sunday in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He kept his poise, hit a 4-iron to the collar of the green and made birdie for a one-shot victory.
In a wild final round of wind and lead changes, Morikawa had the right response for Scottie Scheffler’s bold charge by making two straight birdies down the stretch, and then making the one that mattered the most — after a 20-minute wait — for a 5-under 67.
He won by one shot over Sepp Straka and Min Woo Lee for his first PGA Tour title since the Zozo Championship in Japan in October 2023.
The timing couldn’t have been better. Morikawa began telling friends this week he and his wife are expecting their first child, and winning was “the best way to announce it to the world.”
Scheffler began the final day eight shots behind and was 7 under through seven holes before the wind began whipping. He had three eagles in his round of 63, the last one a 6-iron to 30 inches on the final hole that allowed him to tie Morikawa for the lead.
He didn’t think it would be enough, and it wasn’t.
Moments later, Morikawa holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the 15th to take the lead. He followed with a 6-iron into 8 feet for another birdie. But a bogey on the par-3 17th — his tee shot was dangerously close to the ocean left of the green — and Lee finishing birdie-birdie for a 65, created another tie.
For all the drama, it was particularly tense on the par-5 18th.
In the group ahead, Jacob Bridgeman needed eagle to have any chance of a playoff and he sent his second shot over the bunker and down to the beach. He finally decided to play off the pebbles and that bounced off the rocks and into the ocean. Then, he moved back to where his ball last crossed the hazard. All the while, Morikawa waited.
It was 20 minutes from hitting his tee shot to hitting his 4-iron, a wait made longer considering what was at stake and the biting cold of the Pacific wind roaring off the ocean.
“I paced all the way to the ocean 10 times. I just had to keep moving,” Morikawa said. “These long breaks, they’re not good for anyone to stand still. I was able to pull off a great 4-iron, and man, I need a drink.”
His 4-iron started over a portion of the water and the wind sent it to the right collar. Morikawa putted that down to a foot. Straka made a 10-foot eagle putt for a 68 before Morikawa tapped in.
Akshay Bhatia, the 54-hole leader by two shots, made only two birdies over his last 29 holes. He fell out of the lead after four holes and never caught up, closing with a 72 to finish three back.
Scheffler was 10 shots behind after the first day when he shot 72. He was 13 shots back at one point on Friday. He still managed to be a major threat. He wound up in a tie for fourth with Tommy Fleetwood (66), extending his streak to 18 straight PGA Tour starts in the top 10.
“I had to do something special to give myself a chance,” Scheffler said. “The back nine, I felt like I had to get to 21 or 22 (under). I played a bit more aggressive than I normally am. It was a fun day overall. These are the weeks I’m proud of. I felt like I was battling to give myself a chance.”
Among his regrets was a wedge to a back pin on the 15th that was a foot away from spinning back to close range. It hopped hard over the green. He chipped to 6 feet and missed the par putt.
Morikawa charged his way into the mix with a 62 on Saturday to get within two shots of Bhatia, and he did enough right to stay close — six players had a share of the lead at some point during the final round — until delivering the goods at the end.
The Cal alum won for the seventh time on the PGA Tour since turning pro a week before the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Winning at Pebble moves him back into the top 10 in the world.
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