Page 24 - Golf Champion - SEPTEMBER 2020

[PGA TOUR]

COLLIN MORIKAWA’S

HISTORIC VICTORY

IN THE PGA

CHAMPIONSHIP

COLLIN

MORIKAWA의

역사적인 PGA

챔피언십 우승

orikawa, 23, shot 129 in the final two rounds
at TPC Harding Park. It is the lowest weekend
Mscore ever shot by a men’s major winner.
Morikawa’s 64 on Sunday also ties the lowest final-
round score by a PGA Championship winner in the
event’s history; Steve Elkington also shot 64 in his win
in the 1995 PGA Championship.
Morikawa is the third-youngest winner of the PGA
Championship since World War II, behind only Rory
McIlroy and Jack Nicklaus.
Morikawa earned his third TOUR win, and first major,
in his 29th PGA TOUR start. In Tiger Woods’ 29th PGA
He ranks 140th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season,
TOUR start, he won the 1997 Masters for his first major
but led the PGA field in that statistic.
and fourth PGA TOUR title.
When it mattered most, being short proved a great ad-
Morikawa led the field in driving accuracy, hitting 39
vantage for Collin Morikawa.
of 56 fairways. That was two more than anyone else in
This is not about his diminutive stature but rather his
the field. He hit the short grass 70% of the time, while
length off the tee. TPC Harding Park was a bombers'
the field only hit the fairway half the time.
paradise until the critical moment of the PGA Champi-
Morikawa is the first player since 2010 to win a ma-
onship on Sunday. When Morikawa reached the short
jor while leading the field in driving accuracy. Louis
par-4 16th.
Oosthuizen did it in the 2010 Open Championship at St.
At 294-yards on Sunday the hole was inviting players
Andrews, though those fairways were just a little wider
to have a crack, particularly as nine of them had been
than TPC Harding Park’s.
part of the lead during a frantic final round. Someone
The PGA TOUR has stats from the three majors in the
had to step up. Problem was, in these modern times of
United States dating to 1983. It has stats from The
big hitters, for most of them, 294 yards is too short to
Open Championship since 2003. These are the only
wail away with driver.
four players in those stats to win majors while leading
Bryson DeChambeau hits his drives over 350 yards,
in driving accuracy.
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