Skip to main content
Cal Sports Report

Collin Morikawa Has Done Something Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus Didn't Do

By finishing fifth at Masters former Cal golfer achieved a mark no one else has. He is among favorites at this week's event
Jake Curtis|
Collin Morikawa Has Done Something Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus Didn't Do
Collin Morikawa Has Done Something Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus Didn't Do

Former Cal standout Collin Morikawa heads into this weekend’s RBC Heritage tournament at Hilton Head Island, S.C., as one of the favorites, but it was in last weekend’s Masters that he achieved something no other golfer in history has done.

Not Jack Nicklaus.

Not Arnold Palmer.

Not Ben Hogan.

Not even Tiger Woods.

By placing fifth in the Masters, Morikawa has finished in the top five in all four of the majors and has done it while participating in just nine Grand Slam events in his brief pro career. No golfer has recorded top-five finishes in all majors in so few tries.

We’ll take a look at the odds for the Heritage later, but first let’s look at how long it took some of the greatest golfers in history to record a top-five finish in all four majors. Note: Morikawa did not play in any Grand Slam events as an amateur.

---Tiger Woods: It took Tiger 17 majors to record top-five finishes in all four Grand Slam events, and that includes the five major tournaments he played as an amateur. His win in the PGA Championship in his 17th major began a run of six straight top-five finishes in majors.

---Jack Nicklaus: Nicklaus did not get a top-five finish in all four majors until his 15th attempt, although the first eight tries were as an amateur. He did not play the British Open and the PGA Championship for the first time until his 11th and 12th majors.

---Arnold Palmer: Palmer did not get top-five finishes in every major until his 22nd Grand Slam event, but he did not play in the British Open until his sixth year as a pro.

---Tom Watson: Watson did not record a top-five finish in the PGA Championship until his 79st try in majors as a pro and that gave him top-five finishes in all four.

---Ben Hogan: He played the British Open only once, late in his career in 1953, and won it. However, he did have a top-five finish in each of the other three majors until his 12th major.

---Sam Snead: The British Open was not held through much of Snead’s prime years, but he won it in 1946, giving him a top-five finish in each major in the 20th major in which he participated.

---Bobby Jones – The Masters did not exist in Jones’ prime years, and his 1930 Grand Slam consisted of wins at the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, British Open and British Amateur. He played the British Open only three times and won it in 1930, giving him top-five finishes in each of those four majors after 30 tries in those majors. He played the Masters 11 times (plus one withdrawal) when he was well past his prime and never finished higher than 13th.

--Walter Hagen. He never placed in the top five of the Masters. The Masters did not come into existence until late in Hagen’s career, but he played in it four times and withdrew from it two other times and never finished better than 15th.

Morikawa’s strong final round at the Masters is probably one reason he is among the favorites at this week’s event, the RBC Heritage.

Morikawa is the co-favorite with Justin Thomas in three of the eight betting sites cited in the Oddschecker site and is the second favorite in in the other five.

FanDuel

Collin Morikawa +1300

Justin Thomas +1300

Cameron Smith +1400

Patrick Cantlay +1600

Dustin Johnson +1800

.

BetMGM

Justin Thomas +1200

Collin Morikawa +1400

Cameron Smith +1400

Dustin Johnson +1800

Matthew Fitzpatrick +2000

Patrick Cantlay +2000

Shane Lowry +2000

.

Caesars Sportsbook

Collin Morikawa +1400

Justin Thomas +1400

Cameron Smith +1600

Dustin Johnson +2000

Matthew Fitzpatrick +2000

Patrick Cantlay +2000

.

PointsBet

Justin Thomas +1300

Collin Morikawa +1400

Cameron Smith +1600

Dustin Johnson +1800

Patrick Cantlay +1800

.

Bet365

Collin Morikawa +1400

Justin Thomas +1400

Cameron Smith +1600

Dustin Johnson +2000

Matthew Fitzpatrick +2000

Patrick Cantlay +2000

.

Borgata

Justin Thomas +1200

Collin Morikawa +1400

Cameron Smith +1400

Dustin Johnson +1800

Matthew Fitzpatrick +2000

Patrick Cantlay +2000

.

Unibet

Justin Thomas +1100

Collin Morikawa +1400

Cameron Smith +1400

Dustin Johnson +1600

Patrick Cantlay +1600

.

Play Sugarhouse

Justin Thomas +1100

Collin Morikawa +1400

Cameron Smith +1400

Dustin Johnson +1600

Patrick Cantlay +1600

.

Cover photo of Collin Morikawa by Rob Schumacher, USA TODAY Sports

.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport or going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
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.

Home/Other Sports