Australia

Flawless Open finish gives Collin Morikawa his second major



Collin Morikawa gazed adoringly at the claret jug, thrust it into the air and then gave it a kiss, a two-time major champion at age 24.

This time there were people to cheer him.

The American closed with a bogey-free, 4-under 66 and won The Open in his tournament debut, becoming the first player to capture two different majors on the first attempt.

His victory 11 months ago on his PGA Championship debut came in the first major with no spectators amid the pandemic.

So it was a very different scenario for Morikawa as he made one of the greatest walks in golf down the 18th fairway at Royal St George’s in Kent, southern England, first to applause and then to a standing ovation.

After tapping in for par to win by two shots over Jordan Spieth, he gave a fist pump before applauding the spectators in the huge grandstand around the 18th green, part of a crowd of 32,000 people that made for the biggest gallery in golf since before the coronavirus pandemic.

“I am obviously very biased being from the US, but I’m seeing some of the best crowds I have ever seen out here,” Morikawa said in his victory speech on the 18th.

Loading

They got to witness a player making a historic start to his major championship career.

Morikawa is halfway to the career Grand Slam after eight starts, and is the first player since Bobby Jones in 1926 to win two majors in so few appearances. He follows Gene Sarazen, Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Spieth in winning multiple majors before turning 25.

His total of 15-under 265 was a 72-hole record in 15 British Opens at Royal St George’s.

“When you make history,” he said, “it’s hard to grasp, it’s hard to really take it in. … At 24 years old, it’s so hard to look back at the two short years that I have been a pro and see what I’ve done, because I want more.”

Starting the final round one shot behind Louis Oosthuizen, Morikawa was tied for the lead after four holes and then made three straight birdies on holes seven to nine to overtake the South African, who hadn’t trailed since the 12th hole of his second round.

Loading

Morikawa made key par saves — pumping his fist both times — at holes 10 and 15, between which he rolled a birdie putt up and over a ridge and into the cup on the 14th to build a two-stroke lead he never lost. Spieth parred his final four holes and also shot 66.

By making par at the last after another perfect drive, Morikawa played his final 31 holes without a bogey on a course that has confounded many great players because of its quirky bounces and undulating fairways.

All the more remarkable was that this was his first major test on a seaside links.

He completed a feat achieved by Ben Curtis on the same course in 2003, winning golf’s oldest championship in his links debut.

For Oosthuizen, who was seeking a start-to-finish win and a second claret jug — he had a runaway victory at St Andrews in 2010 — it was another near miss in a career full of them. He was runner-up this year at the PGA Championship and the US Open, two of his six second-place finishes at majors.

This time Oosthuizen tied for third with US Open champion Jon Rahm (66) after closing with a 71 — his first round not in the 60s this week. He never recovered from losing his lead, with an ugly bogey on the par-five seventh hole.

Loading

“Well I do know one thing, the fans at the Open are second (or third) to none,” Oosthuizen said on Twitter, having declined to talk to reporters. “Thank you for the incredible support this week, and congrats to Collin Morikawa who played with class and grit today.”
  
Spieth had his closest call in a major since winning the British Open in 2017 at Royal Birkdale. Missing a 3-metre par putt at the fourth and hitting his tee shot into a bunker at the sixth led to dropped shots. He made up for those with his eagle and played the final 10 holes in 4-under.
  
“I did everything I could in the past few hours to win this championship,” Spieth said.

Tough day for the Australians 

Cameron Smith’s distant dream of winning The Open sank without trace at Royal St George’s as comprehensively as Queensland’s State of Origin hopes.

Recording one double bogey in Sunday’s climax might have been considered unfortunate, but three proved absolutely shattering for Australia’s number one, who admitted he was left “heartbroken” after suffering a bad break in the bunker at the fifth hole which left him realising his Open dream was over for another year.

Australia’s last hope, lying six shots off the lead going into Sunday at 6-under, had been clinging to the thought that a roaring start might see him take a leaf out of Greg Norman’s old book and shoot a score in the low 60s that could even challenge for the claret jug.

Smith had reckoned he’d need a 62 to win; alas, he shot 74, the joint-second worst score by anyone on the whole day.

His pipedream began to turn into a nightmare as he first hit double trouble at the fifth hole.

“I made a poor swing (on my drive), just caught a trap and the ball got right up in the lip and I literally couldn’t hit it out,” he said.

“I even tried to hit it left handed. It stayed in the bunker and then I hit it out in the fairway.

“After that happened, I was almost heartbroken — I knew it was gone.”

He made two more double bogeys at the 10th and at the 15th.

All told, he ended up with four sixes on his card, as he also bogeyed the par-five 14th and the par-four fourth, where his woes all began when a decent approach caught the bowl down at the front of the green and he couldn’t get up and down for par.

Smith, to his credit, did keep battling and recovered amid the carnage to also shoot four birdies, including a pair at the 17th and 18th, which was just as well because it looked as if he might even lose his spot as the Open’s top Australian to Adam Scott.

Smith’s 2-under par total of 278 eventually at least earned him that consolation at the 149th edition of the Championships, with Scott, who’d earlier shot a final round 68, ending a couple of strokes behind.

They were the only two Aussies out of the 11 who started the event to even make the cut on what’s been a dismal Open for the Oceanian challengers. 

AP/AAP



Source link

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button