Cal Sports Report

Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa, Bogey-Free Through 54 Holes, Leads by 6 Strokes in Maui

Fellow Golden Bear Max Homa is tied for seventh after a 10-under 63 on Saturday.
Jeff Faraudo|
Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa, Bogey-Free Through 54 Holes, Leads by 6 Strokes in Maui
Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa, Bogey-Free Through 54 Holes, Leads by 6 Strokes in Maui

Collin Morikawa on Sunday will chase more than his first tournament victory in 18 months.

He will pursue perfection, or as close as anyone can come to that in the game of golf.

Morikawa fired an 8-under round of 65 in the third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Plantation Course of the Kapalua Resort in Maui, and takes a six-stroke lead into the final round.

Most impressive, the 25-year-old Cal grad has played 54 holes without a single bogey. He is 24 under par, which includes 22 birdies, one eagle (sinking a 12-foot put Saturday on the par-5 fifth hole) and zero bogeys.

"It's been pretty simple today. Kind of over the past three days, where I've been looking is kind of where the ball's been going," Morikawa said. "I kind of know what I'm doing right and when I hit a bad shot, kind of what the mistake was. That's the biggest thing."

Morikawa and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler each recorded eagles on Saturday:

Morikawa wasn’t the only Cal grad to deliver a spectacular performance on Saturday.

Max Homa, mired in a tie for 27th place after the second round, fashioned his own bogey-free round of 63, fueled by a career-best 10 birdies, including six over the final seven holes, and is tied for seventh place at 16 under.

What Morikawa is attempting to do is rare. In the history of the PGA tour, only four golfers have completed 72 holes without a bogey.

Most recently, Tom Kim did it in October while winning the Shriners Children’s Open. Joaquin Niemann gets an asterisk for playing four rounds without a bogey at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2021, then making a bogey during the playoff.

When J.T. Poston pulled it off at the 2019 Wyndham Championship he was the first to do it since Lee Trevino at the Greater New Orleans Open in 1974.

Morikawa, who slipped from No. 2 in the world to No. 11 last year, has not won since capturing The Open at Royal St. George’s in England in July 2021.

A winner six times since turning pro in June 2019, Morikawa earned nearly $5 million last season but couldn’t get over the top with a victory.

After posting birdies on Nos. 6, 9, 14, 15, 16 and 18, along with the eagle, to forge a six-stroke lead over J.J. Spaun, Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick, all tied at 18 under.

Kim and John Rahm share fifth place at minus-17, one stroke ahead of Homa and Sungjae Im, who are tied for seventh. 

Spaun isn't convinced anyone will catch Morikawa on Sunday.

"He's putting really good. He doesn't miss a shot," Spaun said. "It's a hard combo to beat."

Only six players have failed to win when taking a lead of six strokes or more into the final round of a PGA event. Most recently, Dustin Johnson suffered that fate at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai in 2017.

Morikawa had a five-stroke lead through 54 holes at the Hero World Challenge in December 2021 and could move up to No. 1 in the world rankings, but couldn't close it out in the final round.

"It's OK," he said. "I'm over it."

Homa, 32, who is coming off his best season on the tour, reached as high as third on the leaderboard Saturday before winding up in a tie for seventh place. He is eight strokes back of Morikawa.

He nearly scored a hole-in-one on the 204-yard, par-3 eighth hole. His shot landed on the fringe of the green, spun back toward the hole and stopped less than a foot from its target.

“No! Go in!” Homa shouted as the moment unfolded.

It did not go in, but playing partner Justin Thomas was there to console Homa. “I thought it had no chance,” Thomas told him. “And then I thought it had a really good chance.”

Homa, shown below sinking a long putt, couldn't quite put his finger on why he played so well.

"It didn't feel like I played four shots better than my last two days combined, but I did," he said. "It's just not a very good game for your mind. But it was nice to shoot 10 under."

.

Cover photo of Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler by Kyle Terada, USA Today

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

Published
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. 

Home/Other Sports