PEBBLE BEACH — Playing in strong winds, periodic rain and overcast skies, Collin Morikawa claimed his seventh PGA Tour title Sunday with a steady putter and a desire just to play golf.
While several players, including World No. 1 Scottie Scheffer challenged and shared a late-round lead, Morikawa birdied three of the final four holes for 5-under 67 and a one-shot margin over Min Woo Lee and Sepp Straka at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Morikawa, who finished at 22 under, began the day two shots off the lead following a 62 in the third round. He won for the first time since the 2023 Zozo Championship in Japan.
“I didn’t want to post a score, to try too hard. I just wanted to play golf,” Morikawa said.
The former Cal standout birdied the 15th and 16th holes, but faltered with a bogey on the 17th, putting him into a tie with Lee, who was already done with his round.
On the 18th, Morikawa hit a solid drive, but had to wait about 20 minutes to take his second shot. Ahead of him, Jacob Bridgeman had put his second shot on the beach. Once Bridgeman cleared the hole, Morikawa hit it to the edge of the green. From there he putted to within a foot for his third shot and then tapped in for a birdie to win it.
“Pebble Beach was always a course that I just wanted to come and play and you wanted to come and play against the pros and play against the best in the world,” said Morikawa, who through the week discussed his self-critical nature.
“But I had the 62 yesterday, it was a great field, you know. It feels great. I’m slowly trying to just smile now because I think the tears are going away.”
Lee, playing three groups ahead of Morikawa, birdied the 17th and 18th to finish with a 65 and at 21 under as the clubhouse co-leader.
Straka, a four-time PGA Tour winner who also began the final round trailing by two shots, finished biridie, birdie, eagle for 68.
Scheffler, the World No. 1 since May 2023, began the fourth round trailing by eight shots. He made an early morning run and stayed close to the leader and moved into a four-way tie for the lead at 20 under with an eagle on the 18th. He finished tied for third after a 9-under 63 with Tommy Fleetwood, who finished with a 66.
“Anytime you’ve got three eagles in one round, good things are happening,” Scheffler said. “It was nice to take advantage of the holes early in the round to kind of put myself on the leaderboard.
“I did a lot of good stuff, holed a lot of nice putts, hit a lot of nice iron shots. I’m proud of the way I played today.”
Akshay Bhatia, the second and third-round leader, and Sam Burns tied for sixth at 19 under.
Bhatia, playing in his 100th career event, finished with a 72, the only score not under par on the leaderboard. Burns had a 67.
The first of the season’s eight Signature Events began with 18 of the top 20 and 42 of the top 50 ranked players. After rain during practice rounds, ideal conditions prevailed. Only 12 players were over par after 36 holes and only nine completed the tournament over par.
Scheffler maintained his final-day wizardry throughout the day. With 262 yards to the pin on the 72nd hole, Scheffler hit his second shot to 3 feet and completed his first career three eagle round.
Scheffler also duplicated his play from last week at the Phoenix Open. He was in 89th position after the first round and tied for third. He was tied for 62nd on Thursday after his opening-round 72.
“It was a frustrating start to both of the last couple weeks,” said Scheffler. “But I think these are some of the weeks when you look back, I’m very proud of sticking with it, not giving up even when I felt like things were going.”
Scheffler’s morning spree moved him quickly into a three-way tie for sixth. He birdied the first and third holes and eagled the second to climb to 15 under, all about 45 minutes before Bhatia started his round.
With his second front-nine eagle on the seventh, Scheffler moved within one shot of the lead. He bogeyed the eighth and finished the front nine with a par, a 6-under 30 and a five-way tie at 17 under.
Scheffler’s stellar play continued with a 22-foot birdie on the tent, moving him briefly into within one shot of the trio of leaders.
Since finishing tied for 20th last March 13 in the Players Championship, Scheffler has finished in the top 10 in his past 19 events, including the limited field Hero Challenge. He has seven victories, a tie for second and two third-place ties.
Ryo Hisatsune, the first-round leader who opened with a 62 and held a one-shot lead over two players, finished with a 67 and six-way tie for ninth at 18 under.
James Raia is a former Herald staff member who has been a longtime sports correspondent for the paper. Reach him at james@jamesraia.com.
