Why Colin Morikawa had multiple reasons to celebrate on Sunday
Only American to finish at No 1 on European Tour, 29-year-old back in world’s top 10
Dubai: Colin Morikawa, the only American ever to finish at No 1 on the European Tour back in 2021, has roared back into clubhouse conversations with a spectacular but tense victory at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California on Sunday. He won by one shot over Sepp Straka and Min Woo Lee for his first PGA Tour title since 2023.
Double major-winner Morikawa, who had not triumphed on the PGA Tour since the Zozo Championship in Japan in October 2023, fended off a final-day charge by top-ranked Scottie Scheffler that included three eagles, and used the moment of his victory to announce that he and his wife were expecting their first child.
"It's special for a lot of reasons," said Morikawa.
"We just started telling people this week, and we said, 'what better way... to just announce it to the world, if I was able to come out and win,'" he said.
Keep moving
Morikawa’s victory had enough drama, but none more so than on the par-5 18th on Sunday.
In the group ahead, Jacob Bridgeman needed eagle to have any chance of a playoff and he sent his second shot over the bunker and down to the beach. He finally decided to play off the pebbles and that bounced off the rocks and into the ocean. Then, he moved back to where his ball last crossed the hazard.
All the while, Morikawa waited.
It was 20 minutes from hitting his tee shot to hitting his 4-iron, a wait made longer considering what was at stake and with the biting cold of the Pacific wind roaring off the ocean.
"I paced all the way to the ocean 10 times. I just had to keep moving," Morikawa said. "I tried to look out in the ocean as many times as I can. I love being out here.
"Pebble Beach... not many places can beat this place in the world."
The 29-year-old won for the seventh time on the PGA Tour since turning pro a week before the 2019 US Open at Pebble Beach. Winning at Pebble moves him back into the top 10 in the world.
