Collin Morikawa withstood fierce winds, rain and a tight leaderboard to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am for his first PGA Tour victory in 28 months.
The two-time major champion shot a closing 5-under-par 67 to finish at 22 under, two-putting for birdie on the par-5 18th hole, for a one-shot victory over Min Woo Lee (65) and Sepp Straka (68). They were among six players who shared the lead at some point during the final round, a list that included World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
Scheffler shot a final-round 63 that featured three eagles and was briefly the leader in the clubhouse. He ended up tied for fourth with Tommy Fleetwood at 20 under.
Morikawa Goes Back to Basics
Morikawa’s seventh career victory was spurred by a third-round 62 in which he hit all 18 greens in regulation. That put him in a tie for second, two shots behind Akshay Bhatia.
“I think I’ve been trying to make golf so perfect, trying to hit these shots and trying to make these putts in a certain way that you forget how to play the game of golf,” said Morikawa, 29, who won $3.6 million in the signature event. “I think the last two days I went to go play golf. I was like, ‘Man, I love being in this position.’ Like I hadn’t felt that in such a long time. It just felt so good to be in that position.
“Whether it went great or it didn’t go great, I was ready to go execute the shots, play golf and not worry about the wind, not worry about the rain.”
A Challenging Finishing Hole
A bogey at the par-3 17th hole had Morikawa tied for the lead when he went to the 18th. After hitting his tee shot into the fairway, Morikawa had to wait about 20 minutes after Jacob Bridgeman, who was in the group ahead of him, hit his second shot onto the beach.
Bridgeman walked down the rocks to the sand and hit his third shot, which bounced off the rocks and into the ocean. Bridgeman then went back up to the fairway and, after a penalty stroke, hit his fifth shot from 156 yards to 5 feet, and he sank the bogey putt.
“I tried to think about anything else other than golf,” said Morikawa of the wait. “Thankfully, you had the nicest backdrop you could ask for so that was very, very easy. For me, it was how do I stay loose, how do I stay warm and not just think about the shot. I knew what shot I had to execute. I didn’t really have to do anything but just tried to keep pacing back and forth and look at the ocean.”
When the green finally cleared, Morikawa hit a 4-iron from 232 yards to the edge of the green in the right rough, 26 feet from the cup. He putted to 16 inches from there and tapped in for his first win since the Zozo Championship in October 2023. Morikawa also shared even bigger news during a television interview – he and his wife, Kat, are expecting their first child later this year.
Scheffler’s Charge Comes Up Short
Scheffler began the final day eight shots behind Batia, who shot a 72 and finished tied for sixth at 19 under with Sam Burns. Scheffler was 7 under through seven holes, with eagles on both par-5s. He went out in 30 after a bogey on No. 8, and had three birdies and two bogeys on the back when he got to the 18th.
After a monstrous 329-yard drive, Scheffler hit his second shot to within 3 feet and made the eagle to take the lead.
“Anytime you’ve got three eagles in one round, good things are happening,” Scheffler said. “It was nice to take advantage of the holes early in the round to kind of put myself on the leaderboard. I did a lot of good stuff, holed a lot of nice putts, hit a lot of nice iron shots. I’m proud of the way I played.”
Stars to Shine at Genesis Invitational
Scheffler and company will play in The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, which did not host the tournament last year due to the Los Angeles wildfires.
He’ll be joined by World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, who tied for 14th at Pebble Beach, and Morikawa, who moved from No. 19 to No. 5 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Tournament host Tiger Woods will not compete as he continues to recover from lumbar disc replacement surgery in October.
