Collin Morikawa's Victory Hopes Fizzle At The Players Championship

The former Cal star shoots a third-round 77 and skids from fourth place to a tie for 22nd

Collin Morikawa, not looking happy / Jeff Swinger-Imagn Images

The promise of a victory to end a 17-month drought on the PGA Tour went up in smoke for Collin Morikawa on Saturday.

The 27-old Cal grad, one day after shooting a 7-under 65, ballooned to a 5-over 77 in the third round of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass at Ponte Vedra, Florida.

Morikawa, ranked No. 4 in the world, enters Sunday’s final round at 4 under par and tied for 22nd place, eight strokes behind third-round leader J.J. Spaun.

Morikawa carded nine birdies and two bogeys on the way to a second-round score that elevated him 27 places on the leaderboard. But the three birdies he posted on Saturday were swallowed up by eight bogeys and he is now realistically out of contention to win for the first time since the Zozo Championships in October 2023.

Collin Morikawa chips out of the bunker / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It’s been a good season so far for Morikawa, who finished in a tie for second a week ago at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and was second in his debut event of the year, The Sentry in January.

His performance on Friday left him just two strokes out of the lead but securing a victory may have to wait for another week.

Spaun shot a 2-under 70 and holds the lead at minus-12. He is one stroke ahead of Bud Cauley, who fired a 6-under 66 on Saturday.

A second former Cal golfer who made the cut on Friday, Byeong Hun An, had a double-bogey and six bogeys to find his up-and-down day at 76. He slipped from a tie for 49th place after Friday to a share of 56th, at plus-2 and 14 strokes back.