Well that just happened. I didn’t really intend to have to pay too much attention watching last night considering Morikawa was bogey free and absolutely tearing up the course but boy was I wrong. Coming in, Collin had an impressive six stroke lead and was ready to cruise to his sixth win on Tour and his first since The Open Championship back in 2021. A much needed to win to get him back on track and make sure everyone remembered his dominance ahead of The Masters. Not to mention, it also would’ve been a fantastic win for the TPB Board as the Warden was ready to cash his first win of the tourney and get the boys ready to sweep the season. Well, that’s what we thought until Collin decided to take a massive shit inside his pants and meltdown in primetime.
Collin was playing well at the start as he was 3-under through six and it was looking like he was about to coast his way to the win. Rahm was seven back and ever since he bogeyed the first, we were pretty certain he would run out of time yet again at Kapalua. This continued until Rahm reached hole 12. Morikawa had parred 7-11 and Rahm decided to go on a fucking tear. He birdied 12, 13 and 14 to pull within three and as he was setting himself up for eagle on 15, the meltdown began for Morikawa. Morikawa found himself in a greenside bunker where he decided to hit one like me and send it 20 yards over the green.
Truly one of the worst shots I’ve ever seen from him and right as he sets himself up for a difficult 10-foot putt for par, Rahm drained the eagle to get to one back. Collin missed the putt, and we were all square in the ToC. While that bunker shot was one of the worst shots I’ve seen him hit, what followed might take the trophy for the worst I’ve seen from Collin:
Just an embarrassing shot and he missed the par putt to bogey the par 5, 14th. This bogey streak continued for one more hole and by that point the tournament was all but over. To seal the deal, Rahm cashed our Prop of the Week as he birdied the final hole and secured his eighth PGA victory. Truly as intense of a first tournament as we could have asked for and I couldn’t be more stunned as we look ahead of the season. We all know that this tournament is a birdiefest which can sometimes make it boring but seeing Rahm shoot a 63 to come back from NINE STROKES was an awesome start to the year.
Now, it’s time to talk about our guy Morikawa. Is he a choke artist? Absolutely. I am one that throws that word at many and it is time that Morikawa is added to the list. He has now blown a six stroke and a five stroke lead in his career and hasn’t won since 2021. After the first one, we were able to say it wasn’t a real tournament, but, that was quite the scarring experience. Now, it’s time to face the truth and admit that there is a problem in the Morikawa camp. Just 18 months ago, Collin was being compared to Tiger after winning two majors at such a young age but now that he’s blown a six-stroke lead, we’re stuck comparing him with some of the biggest choke artists of all time, like DJ and Norman. What an absolute fall from grace.
If you haven’t been able to tell, I am a Morikawa fan, so I was bummed having to watch that. On the bright side, this was the first tournament of the season, and it was supposed to be a test of the short game work he had done in the offseason so there is plenty to take away from this tournament. For 65 holes, his short game was looking pretty fucking good but if you can’t contain it for 72 holes, then you can lose control pretty quickly. Nevertheless, Collin has secured yet another top five and he is still a two-time major champion who has proved that he can handle these moments. This is certainly the most crushing loss in Morikawa’s career and will likely be a defining moment for him but I think we will see him bounce back from this one relatively soon. I’m not quite sure what tournament it will be, but I am very confident Collin will find himself hoisting another trophy in no time. Now, for those who have been bored enough to read all of this, I leave you with one of the greatest predictions in golf history. In 2024, Collin Morikawa will return to major championship glory and win The Masters. Who will be putting that jacket on him you ask? None other than the Greatest of All Time, the 2023 Masters Champion, Tiger Woods.
Three Putt Bogeys 