Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa Makes a Run, Then Settles for 14th at Charles Schwab

Collin Morikawa made a bold move on the final day of the Charles Schwab Challenge — climbing from 27th place to eighth at one point — before cooling off and settling for a share of 14th.

A year after losing the Charles Schwab on a first-hole playoff to Daniel Berger, the 24-year-old Cal grad fell out of contention this year when he carded five bogeys in Saturday’s third round.

But he was dynamite from the start on Sunday, scoring an eagle-3 on the par-5 first hole to begin his climb up the leaderboard.

After birdies on Nos. 3, 9 and 10 (with a bogey on the fifth hole), Morikawa had soared all the way to eighth place at four under for the day, seven under for the tournament.

He made par on the next five holes to stay in the top 10, but bogeys on 16 and 18 left him at 68 for the day and knocked him back into a six-way tie for 14th place.

One week removed finishing in a tie for eighth place at the PGA Championship, Morikawa was shooting for his sixth top-10 finish of the season. His payday: $125,625.

Morikawa has been terrific at the Colonial Country Club, bettering the par-70 in seven of eight rounds over the past two years. Excluding Saturday, when he shot a 72, He has averaged a score of 66.9 over seven rounds at the Fort Worth, Texas, course.

Jason Kokrak, who had never won in a decade on the PGA tour, claimed his second victory of the season, overtaking Jordan Spieth in the final round and finishing at minus-14 for the tournament. Spieth wound up two strokes back,

Kokrak, 36, shot an even-par 70 on Sunday while third-round leader Spieth finished with a 73 that included five bogeys. Kokrak, who didn’t earn a full-time spot on the tour until he was 27, won for the first time at the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in October.

Kokrak earned $1,350,000 for his triumph while Spieth took home $817,500.

Charley Hoffman fired a 65 — the day’s best round — to move into a four-way tie for third place at minus-10.

Byeong Hun-An, 29, who played one season at Cal a decade ago, finished 50th after shooting a two-over 72 on Sunday to wind up at even par for the tournament.

The PGA tour continues next week with the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio. Two weeks after that is the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in La Jolla.

Cover photo of Collin Morikawa by Joshua S. Kelly, USA Today

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

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