Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa Struggles to a 75, Plummets to 29th Place at the Masters
Collin Morikawa’s worst showing in seven career rounds at the Masters dropped the 24-year-old Cal grad out of contention on Saturday at Augusta National.
Morikawa shot a third-round score of 75, slipping from a tie for 13th place after Friday’s action into a nine-way share of 29th entering Sunday’s final 18 holes.
At one over par through three rounds, Morikawa trails leader Hideki Matsuyama by 12 strokes. Matsuyama made five birdies and an eagle on No. 16 to score a 65 and surge past Justin Rose, who led through the entirety of the first two days.
Matsuyama holds a four-strike edge over four golfers, including Rose, who shot an even-par 72 for the second straight day.
Jordan Spieth also carded a 72 and slipped from fourth place to seventh, six strokes behind Matsuyama.
Matsuyama, who first played at the Masters 10 years ago as a 19-year-old, tore up the course after a one-hour rain delay. He had four birdies and his eagle after the delay.
"This is a new experience for me being a leader going into the final round in a major," Matsuyama said. "I guess all I can do is relax and prepare well and do my best."
"This is a new experience for me being a leader going into the final round in a major," Matsuyama said. "I guess all I can do is relax and prepare well and do my best."
Morikawa began the day tied for 13th place, but bogeyed the first hole. He made a birdie on No. 2 but had bogeys on the fifth and 10th holes, then a double-bogey 6 on the par-4 11th. That left him in a tie for 36th at that point.
The winner of last summer's PGA Championship, Morikawa played one-under over the final seven holes, with a birdie on No. 16.
Morikawa’s 75 was his highest score at the Masters. He shot two rounds of 70 and two rounds of 74 at the delayed 2020 Masters in November and scored 73 and 69 the first two rounds this weekend.
Other than Matsuyama, perhaps no one had a better day at Augusta than Tony Finau. During the rain delay, Finau received a phone call from Tom Brady for a FaceTime chat.
"That was a pleasant surprise," said Finau, who had met Brady back in 2017. "He said, 'Great playing,' and he was following. He was surprised we stopped. He said in the NFL when it rains you don't stop. I let him know, 'Yeah, maybe we're not as tough as you guys,' but he said, 'No, that's not the case.' We had a good laugh about that."
Finau shot a 73 on Saturday and is eight strokes off the lead.
Cover photo of Collin Morikawa by Michael Madrid, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
