Morikawa, Woods playing together
Collin Morikawa soared into another realm when he won last month’s PGA Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco. And now we have more proof.
Morikawa, a 23yearold Cal alum, will play alongside Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas in the first two rounds of this week’s U.S. Open in suburban New York. Morikawa, Woods and Thomas will tee off at 5:07 a.m. PDT in Thursday’s first round.
Woods, a threetime Open champion, is seeking his 16th major title. Morikawa is chasing his second (like Thomas), after his memorable breakthrough at Harding — where his finalround eagle on No. 16 propelled him to victory.
“I think walking in here as a major champion, you have a sense of knowing how to get things done,” Morikawa said in his news conference Tuesday at Winged Foot. “Yes, I’ve only done it once, but I’ve done it.
“You just want more. You get that little taste of what it’s like, and you know why guys mark the majors on their calendars for the year.”
Morikawa, given his preternatural poise, three wins in 15 months on tour and weekend rounds of 6564 in the PGA, has quickly earned a reputation as a clutch player. Asked on Tuesday whether there is such a thing, he showed deference in responding, “Yeah, there’s Tiger Woods, and there’s the rest of us.”
Woods and Morikawa also were paired together Aug. 29 for the third round of the PGA Tour playoff event outside Chicago.
Among the other notable U.S. Open groups Thursday and Friday are Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott and Justin Rose; Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau; and Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm and Paul Casey.
Morikawa and Woods (a Stanford alum) are not the only players with Northern California ties. Cameron Champ (Sacramento), Max Homa (Cal), Byeong Hun An (Cal), Mark Hubbard (San Jose State) and Brandon Wu (Stanford) also are in the field.