By Rahul Banerji
Meet Collin Morikawa. The 23-year-old from Los Angeles carved out a stunning two-shot victory in the PGA Championship on Sunday, and in the process, branded himself as “the one to watch out for”.
There was little inkling of what was to come as play began on Sunday at TPC Harding Park, venue of this year’s first major, the PGA Championship.
Jostling for space atop the leader-board were big names.
Former world number one Dustin Johnson led the way. Two-time winner and defending champion Brooks Koepka was two shots back.
Long hitter Bryson DeChambeau lurked, as did 2015 winner Jason Day and several others.
Delivering the goods
None of that mattered on the day. Morikawa came into the championship as one the season’s hot players, a sensational record of having missed just two cuts in 29 professional starts and two titles under his belt already.
And when he sealed the win with two holes to go, an eagle-2 on the par-4 16h hole that will be long remembered as one of the sweetest and straightest drives under pressure, it was time to acclaim the next big thing.
Of course, this is a frequent enough happening but with this young man, there is good reason to believe it is a long-term forecast that has a high chance of success.
Already, Morikawa has written or re-written records galore.
At 23 he joined Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as the youngest to win a major. This was his PGA Championship debut and only his second start in a major.
Morikawa became the third-youngest player since 1945 to win the PGA Championship, behind only McIlroy and Nicklaus at 23 years, 6 months, 3 days.
Low winning round
He set the PGA Championship record for lowest closing 36-hole score (129) and tied the low final-round score by a winner (64).
The Californian was the third player since 1970 to win a major in two or fewer starts behind Ben Curtis (2003, The Open Championship), and Keegan Bradley (2011 PGA Championship).
Morikawa now has more wins on tour than missed cuts. He was second at the Charles Schwab Challenge in June before winning last month’s Workday Charity Open.
His first title was the 2019 Barracuda Championship which he played on an exemption.
More to come
No doubt many other records will be revealed in the next few days and in the years to come.
And what of his thoughts as he bettered Paul Casey, Johnson, Matthew Wolff, Day, DeChambeau, Tony Finau and Scottie Scheffler in the final run to the line?
“It’s amazing,” said the ever-smiling Morikawa, who grew up in Los Angeles.
“As a little kid, watching all these professionals, this is always what I’ve wanted to do.
“I felt very comfortable from the start, as an amateur, junior golfer, turning professional last year.
“But to finally close it off and come out here in San Francisco, pretty much my second home where I spent the past four years, it’s pretty special.”
The UCal, Berkeley grad also sounded a warning.
“It doesn’t stop here. I’ve got a very good taste of what this is like, what a major championship is like.
“The majors are going to be circled in, just like everyone else, but I’ve got to focus on every single week. I’m trying to win every single week.
“I’m not trying to come out and just win the majors. I’m 23. This is my first full year.
“I love golf. I love every part of it. I love being in this position and I love just being able to come out here and play with a bunch of guys that love the sport, too.”
The weekend also saw the return of Jon Rahm (T13) to no. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
The Spaniard spent two weeks in the top spot before losing it to Justin Thomas following last week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
Final-round top finishers
Collin Morikawa 69-69-65-64—267 (-13)
Paul Casey 68-67-68-66—269 (-11)
Dustin Johnson 69-67-65-68—269 (-11)
Matthew Wolff 69-68-68-65—270 (-10)
Jason Day 65-69-70-66—270 (-10)
Bryson DeChambeau 68-70-66-66—270 (-10)
Tony Finau 67-70-67-66—270 (-10)
Scottie Scheffler 66-71-65-68—270 (-10)
Also read: Li brings his own flavour of China to San Francisco
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