Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa Slips to Fifth Place at Hero World Challenge
A year ago, Viktor Hovland needed a mad rush on Sunday to overtake former Cal star Collin Morikawa at the Hero World Challenge at Albany in New Providence, Bahamas.
The roles are reversed this time around.
Hovland shot an 8-under 64 on Saturday and will take a three-stroke lead over the field into the final round. Morikawa shot a 3-under 69 in the third round yet still finds himself six strokes off the pace.
Morikawa shot 18 under par through three rounds a year ago building a six-stroke lead and needed only to close out the win to climb to No. 1 in the world rankings. Then he shot 76 in the final round while Hovland rallied for the victory.
"Just go low," Morikawa said of his game plan for the final round. "I've got to make birdies and if I just kind of get things rolling like I did at the beginning of that kind of back nine, hopefully we can just put together 18 of those and post a low number. That's all I can do really tomorrow. Can't control those guys."
Now ranked No. 10, Morikawa is tied at 7 under with Xander Schauffele. Morikawa began the day just one stroke off the lead and had six birdies and three bogeys on Saturday. But he couldn’t keep pace with red-hot Hovland.
Hovland shot 3 under for the front nine then really warmed up, stringing together six birdies over a span of seven holes to go 14 under. Then he bogeyed No. 18 to finish at 64 and 13 under for three rounds.
"It was great, I just kept making birdies," Hovland said. "It was weird. Midway through the round I made a lot and it didn't really feel like I had made that many. I kind of just kept playing golf and kept making putts. I stood on the 18th hole 9 under par. That was pretty sweet."
Hovland has a four-stroke lead over Scottie Scheffler, who included an eagle in his round of 66. Scheffler can climb to No. 1 in the world rankings with a victory here.
Cameron Young and Justin Thomas are each at 8 under and trail Hovland by five strokes.
Former Cal star Max Homa, 32, is tied for 15th place in the 20-player field after a third-round 71. He is plus-4 for the tournament, 17 strokes back of Hovland.
Cover photo of Collin Morikawa by Bill Streicher, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo