Dublin, Ohio: Collin Morikawa never looked like a winner at the Workday Charity Open until he tapped in for par on the third playoff hole, capping off a wild finish Sunday at Muirfield Village.
Morikawa trailed Justin Thomas by three shots with three holes to play and managed to get into a play-off with a 6-under 66. Then, after watching Thomas hole a 50-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole, he had to make a 25-footer just to stay alive. He could only watch as Thomas had a 10-footer to win on the 18th on the second play-off hole.
It finally ended on No. 10 when Thomas had to lay up from behind a tree and made bogey, and Morikawa took two putts from just inside 10 feet for his second career victory, and first against a strong PGA Tour field. His other victory was the Barracuda Championship last year, the same week as a World Golf Championship.
“It was crazy,” Morikawa said.
It was a shocker for Thomas, too. He lost a two-shot lead at the start in three holes. He ran off four straight birdies and had 10 consecutive one-putts to build a three-shot lead through 15 holes. But he bogeyed two of his last three holes for a 69. They finished at 19-under 269.
Viktor Hovland of Norway had a 71 and finished alone in third. He was in the final group of three young stars, all of whom had the lead at some point during the final round.
