COMEBACK KID
Collin Morikawa overcame every obstacle in front of him on a topsy-turvy Sunday at Muirfield Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, to top Justin Thomas on the third playoff hole in the Workday Charity Open. The victory was Morikawa’s second on the PGA Tour and came two weeks after his streak of making cuts ended at 22.
DUBLIN, Ohio – What are the odds? Not once, not twice, but three times Collin Morikawa looked to be done Sunday in the Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village Golf Club. In the end, he was the one atop the leaderboard.
He overcame every obstacle in front of him on a topsy-turvy day that had heads spinning with all the plot twists to claim his second PGA Tour title.
Morikawa did so by first forcing a playoff by making up three shots with three to play with two pars and a birdie as Justin Thomas bogeyed two of his last three holes. Then, after Thomas made his longest putt of the season, a 50-footer with 10 feet of break on the first playoff hole, Morikawa knocked in his make-or-lose putt from 25 feet.
Then all Morikawa could do was watch as Thomas just missed his chance to win on the second playoff hole when his putt from 9 feet just burned the right edge.
Finally, on the third extra hole, Morikawa split the fairway, knocked his approach to 10 feet and two-putted for par as Thomas, who drove his tee shot behind a tree, made bogey.
“Amazing, that’s how the day went,” Morikawa said. “It was a long, long 21 holes. It was a grind. I knew from the start nothing was going to be given today.”
The day got off to an unusual start as tee times were moved up to beat potential afternoon showers and the leaders went off at 9 a.m. local time. Morikawa, who squandered his 36-hole lead with an even-par 72, started the day three shots behind Thomas and one shot behind Viktor Hovland.
Morikawa, 23, gained a share of the lead with birdies on the second, the fourth (where he nearly made a hole-inone) and an eagle on the fifth from 4 feet. But Thomas, who got off to a lethargic start, then went on a heater with birdies on four consecutive holes starting at the eighth and seemed to have his hands on the championship hardware after he made eagle from 23 feet on the 555-yard 15th hole.
But he bogeyed 16 and 18 and then the third playoff hole. “I’m pretty pissed off,” Thomas said. “That’s about the only way to explain it. I had a three-shot lead with three to go and just completely handed it over. Collin played great.”
Morikawa missed the first cut of his pro career two weeks ago in The Travelers Championship. His 22 made cuts to begin a career has been bested only by Tiger Woods, with 25, in 30 years.
Morikawa finished regulation at 19under 269 after a 66 Sunday. Thomas shot 69. Hovland finished with a 71 and in third place four shots back.