In a wild final round of wind and lead changes, Morikawa had the right response to Scottie Scheffler’s daring charge, making two consecutive birdies down the stretch, then making the one that mattered most – after a twenty-minute wait – for a 5-under 67.
He finished at 22-under 266 and won by one shot over Sepp Straka and Min Woo Lee for his first PGA Tour title since the Zozo Championship in Japan in October 2023.
The timing couldn’t have been better. Morikawa started telling friends this week that he and his wife are expecting their first child, and winning was “the best way to announce it to the world.”
Scheffler started the final day eight shots behind and was seven under through seven holes before the wind started to blow. He had three eagles in his round of 63, the last a 6-iron to 30 inches on the final hole to tie Morikawa for the lead.
He thought it wouldn’t be enough, and it wasn’t.
Moments later, Morikawa holed a 30-foot birdie putt at the 15th to take the lead. He followed with a 6-iron to 8 feet for another birdie. But a bogey on the par-3 17th (his tee shot was dangerously close to the ocean left of the green) and Lee made birdie-birdie for a 65 to re-tie the score.
Despite all the drama, it was particularly exciting on the par-5 18th.
In the group ahead of him, Jacob Bridgeman needed Eagle to have a chance at a play-off and he sent his second shot over the bunker and onto the beach. He finally decided to play with the pebbles and they bounced off the rocks into the ocean. He then moved back to where his ball last crossed the hurdle. All the while, Morikawa waited.
It took twenty minutes between hitting his tee shot and hitting his 4-iron, and the wait grew longer considering what was at stake and the biting cold of the Pacific wind howling off the ocean.
“I walked all the way to the ocean ten times. I just had to keep moving,” Morikawa said. “These long pauses aren’t good for anyone to stand still. I was able to put together a great 4-iron, and man, I need a drink.”
His 4-iron started over part of the water and the wind sent it to the right board. Morikawa got to the bottom of that. Straka made a 10-foot Eagle Putt for a 68 before Morikawa tapped in.
Akshay Bhatia, the 54-hole leader by two shots, made just two birdies over his final 29 holes. He fell out of the lead after four holes and never caught up again, closing with a 72 and finishing three back.
Scheffler was 10 shots behind after the first day when he shot 72 shots. At one point Friday he was 13 shots behind. He still managed to be a major threat. He finished tied for fourth with Tommy Fleetwood (66), extending his streak to 18 consecutive PGA Tour starts in the top 10.
“I had to do something special to give myself a chance,” Scheffler said. “The last nine I felt like I had to be 21 or 22 (under). I played a little more aggressively than normal. It was a fun day overall. These are the weeks I’m proud of. I felt like I was fighting to give myself a chance.”
One of his regrets was a wedge into a back pin on the 15th, which was a foot away from turning back to close. He jumped hard over the green. He chipped to six feet and missed the par putt.
Morikawa stormed his way into the mix on Saturday with a 62 to get within two shots of Bhatia, and he did enough well to stay close – six players had a share of the lead at one point during the final round – until he delivered the goods at the end.
The Cal alum won for the seventh time on the PGA Tour since turning pro a week before the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. By winning at Pebble he returns to the top 10 in the world.
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