Collin Morikawa wins for the first time in more than two years.
TRACY WILCOX, PGA TOUR VIA GETTY IMAGES
After waiting 847 days since October 2023 at the Zozo Championship to lift another trophy, Collin Morikawa didn’t mind waiting an extra 30 minutes on the prettiest finishing hole in golf to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Morikawa had to pace around the 18th fairway for 20 minutes in winds up to 30 mph since hitting his drive while Jacob Bridgeman navigated all manner of issues en route to a bogey in front of him. But despite all the thoughts that could go through his head, Morikawa struck a clutch 4-iron to 26 feet from the pin and two-putted for birdie from the thick collar adjacent the green to finish 22-under par and beat Min Woo Lee and Sepp Straka by a stroke at Pebble Beach.
“I knew what I had to do,” said Morikawa, now a seven-time PGA Tour winner including two majors. “I think I paced all the way to the ocean like 10 times at least. I just had to keep moving. It’s weird to say but these long breaks it’s just not good for anyone to stand still. … I was just able to pull off a great 4-iron and two-putt.
“Man, I need a drink real bad.”
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It was a nervy finish to Morikawa’s Sunday 67, after putting himself into the final group in spite of his below-average putting stats with a virtuoso ball-striking exhibition on Saturday to shoot 62. On Sunday, he was 20-under and in a four-way tie at the top through 14 holes before making birdie putts from 30 and 8 feet on 15 and 16 to take a two-shot lead.
But a bogey after pulling his tee shot into the wind on the par-3 17th and a birdie by Lee up ahead on 18 left Morikawa needing a closing birdie to avoid a playoff. He found the fairway with 3-wood on 18 and after the long wait made it count from there to get himself back in the win column.
“Just to be able to pull off those last two shots from the tee and into this green, it feels great,” said Morikawa, who announced in his post-round interview that he and his wife, Kat, are expecting their first child.
“It was never in the dreams honestly. Pebble Beach was always just a course you wanted to come and play against the pros and the best in the world.”
Allowed preferred lies in the rain on Sunday, chasers were able to take advantage of the softer course before the worst of the winds came gusting in off the Pacific Ocean. When 54-hole leader Akshay Bhatia couldn’t generate any birdies to stay in front, a revolving door of contenders cycled through the top of the leaderboard Sunday.
The biggest of them was world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. With a brilliant 6-iron through the wind to 3 feet on the par-5 18th hole, Scheffler finished with his third eagle of the day – a personal best – to post 20-under in the clubhouse and move into a four-way share of the lead at the time.
“I knew I needed an eagle if I wanted an outside chance. I may end up one or two shots short but overall I put up a good fight this week,” said Scheffler, who proved prophetic as Lee bumped him from the clubhouse lead with birdies on 17 and 18 to reach 21-under.
Scheffler’s 9-under 63 was the low final round despite three bogeys with missed putts inside 6 feet on Pebble’s notoriously tricky poa annua greens. Even so, he made a personal best 151 feet of putts in the final round and played the par-5s in 7-under.
“I had to do something special today to give myself a chance,” Scheffler said. “On the back nine I felt like I needed to get to 21- or 22-under. So I was playing really aggressive, a bit more aggressive than maybe I normally am. You see a few bogeys on the card because I was going after pins.
“It was a fun day overall. I knew I needed to post a number and I did a good job of fighting all week. These are the weeks I’m pretty proud of at the end of the week because I felt like I’ve been battling all week just to give myself a chance and to have some special stuff happen today and put myself in the clubhouse with maybe a chance is always nice.”
For the second straight week Scheffler had to overcome a slow start and grind from the bottom of the field. A week after rallying from an opening 73 to finish T3 and one shot out of a playoff in Phoenix, Scheffler opened with a substandard even-par 72 on Thursday at Pebble Beach – once again 10 strokes behind the first-round leader, this time Ryo Hisatsune.
An early bogey in the second round at Spyglass Hill had Scheffler over par and tied for 73rd in the 80-player field. He chiseled away with 66-67 on Friday and Saturday but was still eight behind overnight leader Bhatia to start the final round.
That changed quickly when Scheffler went out in a blazing 7-under through seven holes – with eagles on Nos. 2 and 6 – in the Sunday winds to put himself in contention yet again. He grabbed a share of the lead at 19-under with a birdie on 14 only to fall back after weakly striking a 6-footer on 15. In the end, Scheffler wound up tied fourth with Tommy Fleetwood, extending his streak of finishing T8 or better to 19 consecutive Official World Golf Ranking events – 18 on the PGA Tour – dating back to his T20 at last year’s Players Championship.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy shot 8-under 64 on Sunday to finish T14 at 17-under in his 2026 PGA Tour debut despite making three double bogeys and a triple bogey during the week.
Scott Michaux
