Cal Sports Report

Heartbreak at Muirfield Village: Collin Morikawa Loses Memorial Title in a Playoff

Patrick Cantlay prevails after the 24-year-old Cal alum twice led on the back nine.
Jeff Faraudo|
Heartbreak at Muirfield Village: Collin Morikawa Loses Memorial Title in a Playoff
Heartbreak at Muirfield Village: Collin Morikawa Loses Memorial Title in a Playoff

On the two-year anniversary of his first round as a professional golfer, Collin Morikawa nearly won his fifth PGA tour title.

But Patrick Cantlay prevailed with a birdie on the first playoff hole at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, and Morikawa wound up second on Sunday at the Memorial Tournament.

A UCLA alum beat a Cal man.

Morikawa, 24, overcame early struggles and led twice on the back nine. But Cantley, 29, kept coming on his way to winning the Memorial for the second time in three years.

“Obviously, it sucks to lose a playoff. But today was a grind and that’s all I could focus on,” Morikawa said. “I was hitting the ball well, but it didn’t show that. I couldn’t really hit a green for my life. 

"I was hitting my shots that I wanted and we were a little off calculating, a little off with just luck, and sometimes that happens, but to get into a playoff to make the putts I needed to make, just to keep myself in it, I’m proud of myself and it’s crazy. It’s crazy what a game it is.”

Both players made par on the 18th hole to force the playoff, but there was plenty of drama before that.

The decisive putts on the first playoff hole

The rain began as the two teed off at No. 17, Morikawa leading by a stroke. Then it began to rain harder and the wind came up.

Morikawa’s third shot, from the fringe, got very little roll in the suddenly difficult conditions and stopped 15 feet shy of the hole. Officials then halted play for perhaps five minutes.

When the rain stopped, Cantlay made a 17-foot birdie putt to draw even and Morikawa salvaged par by converting a 15-footer.

Patrick Cantlay's putt on the 17th to tie Morikawa, and Morikawa's ensuing putt on the 17th hole to stay tied for the lead.

Cantlay’s tee shot on No. 18 was wide to the right of the fairway and into the crowd. Morikawa’s first two shots on the hole went into bunkers.

Somehow, both players saved par on the hole and forced the playoff after each carded 72-hole scores of 13-under 275. Morikawa and Cantlay each shot 71 on Sunday.

Cantlay pocketed the winner's check for $1.674 million while Morikawa still had a nice payday, earning $1,013,700.

Scheffler, who bogeyed No. 18, wound up two strokes back in third place at 11-under 277.

Cal alum Max Homa, who began the day alone in fifth place, six strokes off the pace, climbed as high as a tie for fourth place before settling for a three-way share of sixth. He shot a final-round 72 and wound up at six-under 282, and won $313,875.

Of course, the entire event was turned on its head Saturday evening when Jon Rahm, after forging a six-stroke lead with an 18-under par score, was forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19.

“It took me an hour or so to really just digest what had happened,” Morikawa said of Saturday's stunning turn of events involving Rahm. “He deserved to go out and play really well and he was 18 under. The rules are rules and you have to follow guidelines.”

"It was such a weird situation, so unfortunate," Cantlay said. "Everyone, me included, knows it would be totally different today if that hadn't happened. But there's nothing I could do about it. I tried as hard as I could to reset and refocus."

That left Morikawa and Cantlay tied atop the leaderboard at 12 under, and three strokes better than the field. But that didn’t mean much by Sunday morning.

Morikawa made three bogeys on his first six holes — Nos. 1, 4 and 6 —and dropped to third place. Uncharacteristically, he struggled off the tee, hitting the fairway on just one of those first holes.

His struggles apexed on the sixth hole when he hit into deep rough and then whiffed on a shot trying to chip the ball onto the green. “Wow,” analyst Nick Faldo said. 

“It’s a body blow,” analyst Frank Nobilo said. “We’ve all done it. It’s how you feel afterwards. You have to play the same shot again.” 

Trouble for Morikawa on the fourth hole.

After the grim start, Morikawa didn’t have another bogey the rest of the day.

Still, no one could ever seize control. Scottie Scheffler made three birdies on the first five holes to take the lead at minus-12, but that didn’t last.

Morikawa took advantage of the four par-5 holes on the course, converting birdies on each one of the Sunday. By doing so on the 11th hole, he regained the lead at 12 under, with Cantlay one stroke back.

Cantlay made a 17-foot birdie putt on No. 13 to pull even again.

Scheffler created a three-way tie at minus-12 with a birdie on No. 15, but Morikawa birdied the same hole — another par 5 — and was in front at 13 under par. It stayed that way until the 17th hole.

A third Cal alum, Brandon Hagy, shot a two-under 70 on Sunday and finish in a tie for 50th place at five-over 293. Hagy won $23,343.

Cover photo of Patrick Cantley, left, and Collin Morikawa by Adam Cairns, Columbus Dispatch for USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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Jeff Faraudo
JEFF FARAUDO

Jeff Faraudo was a sports writer for Bay Area daily newspapers since he was 17 years old, and was the Oakland Tribune's Cal beat writer for 24 years. He covered eight Final Fours, four NBA Finals and four Summer Olympics. 

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