Pebble Beach Golf Links had seen a Golden Bear win before, but that was legend Jack Nicklaus, who won five times at the legendary venue during his illustrious career.
This time, it was a Cal Golden Bear alum who had the gallery on their feet.
Collin Morikawa shot a final round 5-under 67 that included a clutch birdie on the closing 18th to win the recent AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am by a shot over co-runners-up Min Woo Lee and Sepp Straka. The 29-year-old became the first Cal-Berkeley player to win the event, which has been held at Pebble Beach since 1947.
"It's special for a lot of reasons," Morikawa said. “I've put countless hours and nights - probably too many hours - thinking about golf. I kept believing in myself. Honestly, at the beginning of this week it didn't really feel like this was going to be possible."
For Morikawa, it was his first victory in 850 days and seventh career PGA Tour win. He had to wait an extra 29 minutes too, when Jacob Bridgeman, who was playing in the group ahead, in part got stuck on the pebble-filled beach below the 18th green area.
“I paced all through the emotions like 10 times at least,” said Morikawa of his wait in the fairway.
In another win, just prior to the trophy presentation, Morikawa announced on CBS that he and his wife, Kat, are expecting their first child.
History was also made in the Pro-Am portion of the event.
Mary Meeker, who carries a 13 Handicap Index and is member at San Francisco Golf Club, became the first female amateur to win the Pro-Am title, teaming with pro Keegan Bradley to finish with a two-day score of 20-under 124 thanks in part to a first round 59.
Meeker has served on the PGA Tour’s Board as an Independent Director of the Tour's non-profit division since 2017. She is the first and still only female to serve in that role and have a seat at the table at the highest level of the professional game.
In 2011, after two decades on Wall Street she relocated to the Bay Area, becoming a venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, where she made bets on high-profile startups like Square, Spotify and Twitter. In 2018, Meeker started her own venture capital firm, Bond Capital, which is headquartered in San Francisco.
