There were major champions and rookies. There were young stars and grizzled veterans. And there was a logjam at the top of the PGA Championship leaderboard late on a Sunday. So Collin Morikawa, 23, decided to hit the afterburners, posted a final-round 6-under 64 and hoisted the Wanamaker trophy at TPC Harding Park. “It’s amazing. It’s been a life goal,” said Morikawa, who earned 600 FedExCup points and moved to No. 2 in the standings.
“As a little kid, kind of growing up and watching all these professionals, and this is always what I wanted to do.” Since World War II, only three players had won the PGA Championship at age 23.
They are Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. That list grew to four players on Sunday. There were seven players tied for the lead at one point on the back nine during the final round, but Morikawa began to pull away after he holed a pitch shot on No. 14 to move to 11 under and took the outright lead.
But the shot of the championship came on the par-4 16th when he drove the green and left himself a 7-foot eagle putt, which he drained to take a two-shot lead.
With a lot of talk about how the long drivers would have the advantage at TPC Harding Park, Morikawa, not known as a big hitter, got the job done another way. He led the field in driving accuracy, and became the first player to do so and win a major since 2010. Also, his rounds of 65 and 64 on the weekend was the lowest closing 36-hole score in PGA Championship history.
This marked Morikawa’s third win as a pro. He also won the Workday Charity Open last month at Muirfield Golf Club and the Barracuda Championship last summer.
Morikawa gets a lifetime exemption into the PGA Championship and a five-year exemption on the PGA TOUR
BY THE NUMBERS
95’ 5” – Length of the incredible birdie putt for Bryson DeChambeau on the par-4 18th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship. It was the longest made putt of his career AND the first made putt over 95 feet on TOUR since 2017.
114′ 9″ – Feet and inches of putts made in the opening round of the PGA Championship for Tiger Woods. That’s the most feet of putts he’s made in a round this season.
189 – Yards for the tee shot by Byeong Hun An, who made a hole-in-one on the par-3 11th during the final round of the PGA Championship. This marks An’s first ace on TOUR and the 28th at the PGA Championship since 1983.
