Kapalua, Hawaii — Jon Rahm left Maui with an unexpected trophy. Because no one ever saw Colin Morikawa go down.
Rahm started the final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions seven shots behind. He bogeyed the first hole. He got six shots back at the turn to Morikawa, who had yet to make a bogey the entire week at Kapalua.
“It was a bit of a crazy day. I can’t lie,” said Rahm.
Wild Hour showcased a seven-shot swing over four holes, with Rahm taking three consecutive birdies and an eagle, while Morikawa played in the back two groups and made three consecutive bogeys on the hole. .
It ended with Rahm scoring the final birdie with a 10-under 63 to beat Morikawa (72) with a two-shot. Enter the final round.
“It will hurt, but it’s still early in the season, so we have to get over it,” Morikawa said.
Thus began a bold new year on the PGA Tour with high average prize pools of $20 million to collect and reward the best of the Saudi-funded LIV golf challenges more often.
Rahm is riding big waves, winning his third of the last five World Championships.
“In my opinion, since August, I feel that I have become the best player in the world.
For Morikawa, it was an epic wipeout, even by Maui standards.
He was still three shots ahead when he hit a 25-yard bunker shot over the 14th green and made a bogey. On his par-5 15th hole, his 5th wood leaked just enough to go down the slope, leaving his difficult chip and up the hill where a strong grain of grass pierced him. was He muffed his chips and took a bogey. And on the 16th, his wedge wasn’t long enough and rolled off the false front of the green about 70 feet from the pin, making him his third straight bogey.
“He still shot 63,” said Morikawa. “He made sure to make birdies when he needed them, but he also made bogeys. When you take bogeys at that time in the tournament, it’s expensive. I definitely felt the weight of it.”
He tied the PGA Tour record for losing the biggest lead in 54 holes by six shots. Eight other players of his have done it, most recently Scotty Schaeffler at last year’s Tour Championship. The event will start staggered to the standard based on FedEx his cup standings. As for regular stroke play, Dustin Johnson was last at his HSBC Champions in Shanghai in 2017.
He also entered the final round with a lead of 6 or more strokes, becoming the first player in Tour history to hit under par in the final round and fail to win an event, according to an ESPN Stats & Information study.
Morikawa seemed to be in a state of shock, walked the 17th fairway, and in the final round, he was 7 strokes behind, and was suddenly 2 strokes behind and despaired.
Even Ram was surprised. He knew he was back in the game, and when he walked down the 17th fairway and looked at the video board, he saw a picture of himself on the screen with a “1” next to his position. Look..not even a “T1”.tie.
Rahm said he looked at his caddy Adam Hayes and said, “What’s going on?”
Morikawa collapsed for the second time in a little over a year.he’s looking forward to 2021 hero world challenge Had a five-shot lead that could reach No. 1 in the world with a win. He shot 76 and finished fifth.
Masters champion Schaeffler had a chance to return to first place this week if he tied for second and finished in the top three. He had to settle for 70 and was tied for 7th.
Rahm finished 27-under 265. Last year he finished 33 under par at Kapalua. This was his PGA Tour record lasting just seconds. Cameron Smith was 34 under par to take the lead by one.
Rahm is currently 60-under in his last two appearances at Kapalua. This win is his ninth on the PGA Tour and his 17th in the world, and he’s sure he’ll be back on Maui in 2024.
He won $2.7 million out of $15 million in prize money at Kapalua, the first “promotion” event on the PGA Tour schedule. He also receives his 25% of bonus money from the Player Impact program. He placed his 5th in his PIP and earned $6 million.
The Spaniard has now won all seven years in the PGA.
Tom Hoge had 64, tied for third with Max Houma (66). Hoge headed to the airport and his school, he headed to Los Angeles to watch TCU play Georgia in the college football national championship. Hoge then returns to Hawaii for the Sony Open.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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