Collin Morikawa is off to quite the start to his young career. With his win on Sunday at Royal St. George’s, Morikawa became the first man to ever win both the PGA Championship and British Open in his debut at either tournament. Only 24 years old, the American born phenom held off late charges from Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm to capture his first claret jug.
Unfortunately for South African Louis Oosthuizen, who led for much of the tournament, it was another case of fading down the stretch as he saw his Sunday lead continually shrink before disappearing altogether. Oosthuizen would finish the day +1 to card a 4 round score of -11. Morikawa managed a bogey free final round en route to a -4 score on the day, good for -15 on the weekend and two shots clear of runner up Jordan Spieth.
A three hole stretch where he went birdie, birdie, birdie would be all the momentum the Californian would need to get him across the finish line and into the winners circle. Making the feat all the more remarkable was the fact that this was Morikawa’s links debut.
In the history of the PGA, only 8 other players have won both the PGA Championship, and British Open before the age of 25. The last player was a little known fellow by the name of Tiger Woods, so he’s certainly in good company. While some will be quick to anoint Morikawa as “the next one” the young west coaster is quick to downplay any comparisons while insisting he’s just trying to get better everyday.
Rounding out the top 5 behind Morikawa were Jordan Spieth (-13), Louis Oosthuizen (-11), Jon Rahm (-11), and Dylan Fritelli (-9). The 2020 edition of the British Open was cancelled due to COVID restrictions (the only major which did not run in 2020), and the 2021 version is the PGA’s final major until next April.
As a result of the win, Morikawa moved to 1st in the FedEx Cup standings and number 3 in the world golf rankings. No small feat given the fact that only two years ago Morikawa was ranked 1,039th in the world. The University of California-Berkeley graduate will now turn his attention to the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo where he will be representing the USA for the first time as a professional.