Cal Duo Finishes With a Flourish at the Masters

Maybe Collin Morikawa and Max Homa should play Augusta National every week.

The two Cal grads, who have struggled much of the past two PGA seasons, delivered superb Sunday performances at the 90th Masters, both landing top-10 finishes.

Not since the 2024 Masters, when Morikawa and Homa shared third place, have the two Golden Bears enjoyed as good a week at one of golf’s four majors.

Morikawa finished in a tie for seventh at 9 under par after a final-round 68, and Homa wound up tied for ninth at minus-8, thanks to a 67 on Sunday. As top-12 finishers, both will receive invitations to the 2027 Masters.

Morikawa overcame a double-bogey on the second hole by stringing together five consecutive birdies from the 12th through 16th holes to post a 4-under 68 for the second day in a row.

The 29-year-old, who broke a two-year victory drought by winning the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, wound up with his sixth consecutive top-20 finish at Augusta. He pocketed $725,625.

This one was extra special because he overcame a nagging back injury that sidelined him for a month and created natural doubt entering the week.

“Yeah, this blew by any expectations I had for the week,” he said afterward. “Honestly, for me it was just survive each day, wake up, do the prep I needed to do, and go and tee off on one. I didn't know how uncomfortable it was going to be, but we managed to get through all 18 and all 72.

“I mean, trust me, it's going to be one of the best tournaments forever. I'm going to remember this one for many reasons, but just more how strong the mind is, to be able to go out and convince yourself that everything is going to be okay.”

Morikawa, ranked No. 7 in the world, was at plus-1 for the day before birdies on five straight holes lifted him into the top 10. He shot 31 over the back nine.

Homa, whose world ranking has plummeted to No. 163 over the past three years, posted a final-round 67 that lifted him to a tie for seventh place. It was the latest in a series of strong outings at the Masters for Homa, who tied for 12th place last year after his third-place performance of 2024.

Things mostly haven’t gone well for him otherwise. In 44 starts since the 2024 Masters, Homa had just four top-15 finishes (outside of the Masters) and he missed the cut 15 times.

On Sunday, Homa assembled a bogey-free round, carding an eagle-3 on the 13th hole and birdies on Nos. 5, 16 and 8. He made par on the par-3 12th hole, which prompted memories of the 2024 Masters, where his chances of winning were detailed by a double-bogey on the same hole.

“Yeah, 12, that’s where I’ll have my biggest regret of my career most likely,” the 35-year-old told reporters. “So I’ve just played that hole a lot more aggressively and hit a beautiful one in there today.

“I don’t know, I feel like the last couple years I played it very passively, especially the par-5s, and it’s worked fine, but this year I played them much different. I was proud of the way I . . . I don’t know, I guess I just believed in myself on those tee shots and just took them on.“

It added up to an exclamation point to the week for Homa, who shot par or better all four rounds. Both his 67 and 7-under total score are the best Homa has recorded in seven trips to the Masters. Homa earned $630,000.

Rory McIlroy led by six strokes after Friday's second round, then actually trailed early Sunday before defending his Masters title by shooting a final-round 71 for a one-stroke victory over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. With his 12-under final score, he joined Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo as the only repeat winners at Augusta.

Scheffler, at even par after Friday, shot a 65 on Saturday and a 68 in the final round to get close.

McIlroy took home a winner's check for $4.5 million and Scheffler won $2.430 million.

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