Three back with three holes to play, Collin Morikawa (right) beats Justin Thomas in a PGA playoff.
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 could only 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 straight one-putt greens, the last one a 25-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th for the three-shot 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 10-footer 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 straight birdies and was ahead by three shots 10 holes later, and ultimately lost in a playoff.
“It’s completely unacceptable to give up a threeshot 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 the 23-year-old Morikawa, who in his 13 months since graduating from Cal already has established a reputation for a high level of consistency. His only victory was at an opposite-field event last summer. 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 stepping stone,” 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 2foot putt in regulation on 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 this week for the Memorial, as the PGA Tour stays at Muirfield Village.
San Diego State alum Xander Schauffele carded a 2-under 70 to finish tied for 14th.with a 10-under 278. San Diego native Phil Mickelson hit nine of 14 fairways and 10 of 18 greens to finish the day where he began: at even-par for the tournament. He ended tied for 58th.
Elsewhere
Carrying his own bag, Marc Warren closed with a 2-under 70 for a one-shot victory at the Austrian Open, the first European Tour event since the coronavirus pandemic shut down the tour in March.
It was the fourth European Tour victory and first since 2014 for the 39-year-old Scot, who finished at 13under 275 at Diamond Country Club.
Warren had slumped badly in recent years and came into the event ranked 1,258th in the world. He made only five cuts in 19 starts in 2019, with his best finish a tie for 56th. He said it was his first time playing without a caddie since 2005.
• David Lipsky took advantage of his status on the Korn Ferry Tour by winning the TPC San Antonio Challenge at the Canyons, closed with a 6-under 66 for a fourshot victory over Taylor Pendrith of Canada.
It was the fourth career victory for Lipsky, a 31-yearold Californian who has played primarily in Asia and Europe. He last won at the Dunhill Championship in South Africa at the end of 2018. That got him into the World Golf Championship in Mexico City in 2019, where he tied for 10th. Lipsky earned enough points in his PGA Tour starts to earn conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour. And with the European Tour shutdown for four months, he played the Korn Ferry Tour.
• U.S. Davis Cup captain Mardy Fish won the American Century Championship in Stateline, Nev., holding off former Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams a day after a record-setting round.