Cal Sports Report

Collin Morikawa Lets Arnold Palmer Invitational Title Get Away

Cal alum Morikawa led by three with five to play, but Russell Henley wins it. Ex-Cal star Michael Kim finishes fourth, Byeong Hun An is eighth

Jake Curtis

Collin Morikawa
Collin Morikawa / Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
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When former Cal golfer Collin Morikawa stepped to the 14th tee on Sunday, he seemed to have his seventh career PGA Tour title and his first in 17 months in hand.

He led by three strokes with five holes to play in the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida.   But his chance for the title disappeared on two pivotal holes, allowing Russell Henley to steal the title.

Henley and Morikawa were together in the final pairing of the day. After 13 holes, Morikawa was at 11 under par, and Henley was at 8-under.  But Morikawa bogeyed the 14th, while Henley birdied it, shrinking Morikawa’s lead to one shot.

After both parred the 15th hole, Henley came up with the shot of the day on the 16th, turning the leaderboard on its head. Morikawa parred the 16th to stay at 10-under, but he found himself behind by a stroke after Henley chipped in from off the green for an eagle-3, putting him at 11-under.

Both players parred the final two holes, and Morikawa, who led by one shot after the third round, had to settle for second place after shooting an even-par round of 72 on Sunday.

The final round began well for Morikawa, who birdied the first hole by sinking a shot from a sand trap.

Meanwhile, Henley bogeyed two of his first five holes on Sunday, but he would up shooting a 2-under-par 70 to earn the $4 million first prize.

“Hats off to Collin. He played super steady,” Henley said. “Sometimes golf is just mean like that.”

Morikawa takes home $2.2 million for his second-place finish and his No. 5 world ranking seems safe, but he was close to getting his first win since taking the Zozo Classic in October 2023.

Another former Cal golfer, Michael Kim, also was in contention for the title over the closing holes. Kim, playing in the pairing ahead of Henley and Morikawa, birdied the 16th to get to 8-under, but could do better than pars on the final two holes to finish at 3-under for the day and 8-under for the tournament.

It left him alone in fourth place, earning him $1 million, as he continues his ascent up the world rankings.  He finished in the top 15 for a fifth straight event, and he figures to improve on his No. 68 world golf ranking.

A third former Golden Bears golfer, Byeong Hun An, also finished n the top 10. An fired a 4-under-par 68 in the fourth round to finish the evet at 5-under, which tied him for eighth place.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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