Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa Climbs to No. 5 and Other Perks of PGA Victory

Cal coach Walter Chun talks about watching the former Bears star win on Sunday

Collin Morikawa’s victory at the PGA Championship has elevated him to No. 5 in the newest world ranklngs.

The 23-year-old Cal grad was No. 12 a week ago and No. 65 when his 2019 rookie season ended. Morikawa is only the golfer in the current top-10 who wasn’t ranked at least No. 14 on the final 2019 list.

With Morikawa planning to take this week off, here is the new top-10 (with last week’s ranking in parenthesis):

1. Jon Rahm (2)

2. Justin Thomas (1)

3. Rory McIlroy (3)

4. Dustin Johnson (5)

5. Collin Morikawa (12)

6. Webb Simpson (4)

7. Brooks Koepka (6)

8. Bryson DeChambeau (7)

9. Patrick Reed (8)

10. Adam Scott (9)

Tiger Woods is No. 16.

*** Here's my interview Monday afternoon with Cal coach Walter Chun, who talks about the PGA tournament and what Morikawa has taught him:

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Meanwhile, Morikawa’s triumph at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco pays other dividends:

— He has climbed to No. 2 on the 2020 PGA money list with $5,144,088 in winnings. No. 1 is Thomas at $7,251,402.

— A victory at the PGA also provides him a lifetime exemption to play the event, along with five-year exemptions for the U.S. Open, Masters and British Open tournaments. 

— Morikawa can cash in two of those invites this fall: the U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., has been rescheduled for Sept. 14-20 and the Masters will now be played Nov. 12-15. Both events were postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. The 2020 British Open at Royal St. George’s was canceled.

Morikawa is rated as the seventh-best bet to win the U.S. Open, according to Fan Duel. McIlroy and Koepka are the early favorites, according to the website.

Crucial to his victory Sunday was Morikawa's unreal tee shot at the 294-yard, par-4 16th hole. It sailed straight toward the green, took a nice bounce and rolled to barely 7 feet from the hole, setting up an eagle that gave him a two-stroke lead.

This story from Golfworld asks the question: Was it the greatest shot in PGA Championship history?

Morikawa had a little fun in the post-match interview session Sunday when Warriors star and golf fanatic Stephen Curry made his way into the media area and offered to do some caddying.

“My caddie is a huge Warriors fan,” Morikawa said of J.J. Jakovac. “I'm not. I’m an L.A. boy at heart.”

Morikawa also responded to being mentioned as just the fourth 23-year-old to win the PGA title, joining Jack Nicklaus, Woods and McIlroy.

“It’s great company,” he said. “You know it’s been crazy, because this entire start of my professional career. I see all the things comparing (me) to Tiger and doing all this and then Tiger is on a completely different level. I think we all know that.

"But anytime you’re in the conversation of the greats, Jack, Rory, Tiger, no matter who it is, if you’re on that conversation, you’re doing something well.”

Others had plenty to say about Morikawa after he became the first golfer in history to score 129 (65-64) over the final two rounds of a major:

“I’m in awe still watching him play. All my caddie friends say the same thing: ‘I just cannot get over how mature your guy is. He’s like an old soul.’ He just knows what he needs to do. The confidence is a quiet confidence, but it’s super confidence, you know?” — Jakovac, Morikawa's caddie

“I don’t like the term ‘talent,’ but you know when somebody is good, and Collin was good. We could just tell. Those of us who knew, we knew that he’s the one. Even if the media weren’t talking about him, that’s where we were focusing our attention, and we weren’t wrong.” — Paul Casey, who finished in a tie for second place

“An incredible ball striker, something that I envy. Hopefully I can get there one day.” — Bryson DeChambeau, who wound up as part of a five-way tie for fourth place

"He's a helluva player. You see guys coming out of college now, they are ready to win. Prime example I think of that group: him, Matt Wolff, Viktor Hovland. It's impressive what they do. They come out of college, and they're ready to play out here.’’ — Koepka, the two-time defending PGA champ who finished in a tie for 29th

"When he hit it, it came off perfect, and you could see it was starting to float perfectly to the hole. And we're looking at it, and hopefully it got a straight bounce, and it did, and it just bounced right up there. I would definitely say that was the shot of the tournament and pretty awesome to watch.’’ — Tenth-place finisher Cameron Champ on Morikawa’s tee shot at 16

“He’s not going anywhere anytime soon. He’s a heck of a player. He doesn’t have a weakness in his game. He doesn’t have a weakness mentally.” — Tony Finau, part of the five-way tie for fourth