Morikawa wins wild Workday
Outlasts Thomas in a playoff for Workday victory
Collin Morikawa, down three shots with three holes to play, tops Justin Thomas in a playoff.
DUBLIN, Ohio — Collin Morikawa figured his tournament was over if he didn’t make a 5-foot par putt on the 15th hole at Muirfield Village.
He couldn’t have imagined all the fun was just starting.
Still three shots behind Justin Thomas with three holes to play, Morikawa made only one birdie and it was enough for a 6-under 66 to force a playoff.
The three times he played the 18th hole, he twice only could watch as Thomas had 10-foot putts for the win.
The other time, Morikawa had to make a 25foot putt to keep playing.
The only dull moment Sunday at the Workday Charity Open was the end, when Morikawa took two putts for par from just inside 10 feet to beat Thomas on the third playoff hole and win for the second time in his career.
“Amazing,” Morikawa said when asked how he would sum up the day to someone who only saw the result.
That covered a lot of territory.
Morikawa never looked like the winner until it was over.
Thomas had 10 consecutive one-putt greens, the final one a 25-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th for the threeshot lead with three holes to play. And while he made two bogeys for a 69 that allowed for a playoff, he had reason to think it was over when he made a 50-foot birdie putt from the back of the 18th green.
“I never assumed it was over,” Thomas said. “Percentages would say that it heavily is close to being that way. … I just tried to keep my head down and think he’s going to make it, but hoping he’s not, selfishly, but he did.”
Thomas missed a 10footer for par in regulation, and a putt close to that same line for birdie on the second extra hole. He was done in by a tee shot on No. 10 that wound up in the rough behind a tree, forcing him to pitch out 102 yards short of the green. He missed his 15foot par putt, leading to Morikawa’s two-putt par and the win.
It was a wild ride for Thomas, too. He started with a two-shot lead, trailed by three after just five holes, made four consecutive birdies and was ahead by three shots 10 holes later, and ultimately lost in a playoff.
“It’s completely unacceptable to give up a three-shot lead with three to go,” Thomas said. “I’m upset, I’m disappointed in myself. But at the end of the day it’s over with now, and I just need to take some time this afternoon and tonight to build on it and figure out what I can do better going into next week.”
They return in four days for the Memorial on a Muirfield Village course expected to be as fast as a U.S. Open.
This was a big win for Morikawa, 23, who in his 13 months since graduating from California already has
established a reputation for a high level of consistency. His only victory was at an opposite-field event in 2019. He beat a field at the Workday Charity Open that featured five of the top 10 in the world.
“This is a huge kind of steppingstone,” said Morikawa, who goes to No. 13 in the world, one spot ahead of Tiger Woods. “We got No. 1 out of the way. We got No. 2. Let the gates just open and let’s keep going.”
It was his second playoff since the PGA Tour returned June 11 from the COVID-19 pandemic. Morikawa lost on the first extra hole at Colonial by missing a 3-foot putt. He had a 2-foot putt in regulation Sunday that caught the left edge of the cup and swirled in. “My heartbeat must have skipped a billion times,” he said.
The only thing missing was a handshake from Jack Nicklaus. He’ll be there next week for the Memorial, as the PGA Tour stays at Muirfield Village.
Viktor Hovland of Norway had a 71 and finished alone in third. He was in the final group of three young stars, all of whom had the lead at some point during the final round.
Hovland’s hopes ended with two shots — finding a bunker from the 10th fairway for bogey, and a driver on the reachable 14 that only missed by about 5 feet, enough to slowly tumble down the bank and into the water.
Morikawa also hit driver on the 14th that rolled 12 feet away. He narrowly missed the eagle putt, while Thomas hit a splendid wedge with side spin to 3 feet for birdie to stay one ahead. That’s when it appeared the tournament turned in Thomas’ favor.