Collin Morikowa’s Win & Much More
Welcome back folks, what a wild ride our first major of the season turned out to be. The PGA Championship was one of the wildest finishes I've seen in a major championship. This week Tyler and I will be talking about The PGA Championship, Morikowa’s incredible Sunday at Harding Park, Brooks Koepka’s post round comments on Saturday, will Jordan Spieth ever conquer his demons, and lastly picks for the Wyndham Championship, the last regular season event of the PGA Tour.
Mike’s Take:
I watched the complete final round on Sunday of the PGA Championship and it was truly incredible. I couldn't have asked for a better leaderboard. It wasn't until we got to the back 9 when things started to shake up. Going into the back 9 the leaderboard was stacked with the likes of Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Tony Finau, Matt Wolfe, Paul Casey, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikowa,Scottie Scheffler, and Cameron Champ. At one point we had a 6-way tie at the start of the back 9. However upon conclusion of the day the young studs on tour came out on top. It all started with Matthew Wolfe who came in at -10 as the clubhouse leader, with a final round 65. However in a short amount of time he would be bested by one of the most impressive players on tour right now. Collin Morikowa is that man. The entire day at the foggy, and cold Harding Park Morikowa was determined and unphased by his competitors. By the time Morikowa got to the back 9 he was 2 under full steam ahead. He quickly birdies the par 5 10th hole to gain even more momentum and move his way into second place. Followed by a flawless birdie on 14 he gets to 11 under and ties for the lead. Now is when it gets interesting. Morikowa makes a beautiful swing on the driveable par 4 16 to 5 feet for eagle. This was the turning point on the day. He later makes eagle and takes a two shot lead over Paul Casey and Dustin Johnson. Morikowa then proceeds to make two routine pars on the way home to his first major championship. Morikowa fires a flawless bogey-free 64 to win by two shots. The only blip on Morikowa’s day was when he dropped the lid off the Wannamaker trophy, but he wasn’t the first to do that one. Morikowa’s Sunday finish was beyond flawless, however the more impressive and record breaking stat was he had the lowest weekend score ever in the history of major championship golf all at 23 years old. Trust me folks we haven't even scratched the surfaces on what Collin Morikowa will bring to the golf community. We could be looking at the new face of the PGA Tour in the future.
Tyler’s Take:
On Collin Morikowa’s Sunday- I am not sure anyone truly knows how good of a performance we saw this past weekend from one of the young guns on tour. His poise, confidence and calmness were incredible to watch. For someone that has not been on tour much more than a year it is hard not to jump to comparisons with some of the greats. He has a long way to go, but 3 wins, including a major and being ranked 5th in the world is one of the most impressive things I have seen in a long time in golf. Excited to see how he and his fellow young guns fare the rest of the season. This really could be the golden era of golf.
Mike’s Take:
Next on the docket for today is the PGA Tour’s very own Brooks Koepka. Brooks is known for his harsh comments in the past, but his most recent comments grab the attention of much more the media. Following Saturday’s round Brooks proceeded to say how nobody on the leaderboard knew how to win. Now let me remind you that the leaderboard going into Sunday contains the likes of Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose, Jason Day and some of the hottest young players on tour. Not to mention DJ, Rose and Day all have major championships. On top of all that DJ has three times as many wins (21) than Brooks (7). Tour role model and fan favorite Rory McIlroy chimed in saying “If you’ve won a major championship you’re a hell of a player, sort of hard to knock a guy with 21 wins three times what Brooks has.” That statement referred to Dustin Johnson. Furthermore Brooks then completely blows up on Sunday firing a three over 73 and completely removing himself from contention. In my opinion I think Brooks is a fine player, winning 4 major championships is something people dream of but his comments and how he takes away from all that glory and fame. Every major championship winner goes down as a great but a lot of his success could become tarnished by his actions both on and off the course.
Tyler’s Take:
On Brook’s comments- I used to not care what Brooks would have to say and thought it was just him playing mind games or him being confident, but as of late I have come to the realization that he is probably just a dick. Sure, he has a few majors and is an incredible golfer when he wants to be. Him throwing guys under the bus who have much more illustrious careers than him seems very out of touch. I personally like the Brooks vs Bryson feud. The two “villains” on tour create an interesting story line each week, but when Brooks starts firing shots at some of the all-time greats that is where it becomes dumb and reflects poorly on him. Rory responds nicely when asked about Brooks' comments regarding DJ I thought. 2020 has really shown me that Rory is one of the model guys on tour.
Mike’s Take:
This next portion of the blog is probably my least favorite considering Jordan Spieth is and will always be one of my favorite players on tour, but nonetheless that man has some demons that he can’t seem to conquer. The story of Jordan Spieth up until this point is a glorious one. He has been at the top of junior golf, collegiate golf, amatuer golf, and professional golf. Not many people can say that. The past year, year and a half that has not been the case. We have seen the once great player fall to depths even he himself didn't think was possible. From shooting 80’s, missing cuts and not having a win since 2017 we are witnessing some of the most upsetting struggles from one of the most fan favorite golfers out there. Some say make a caddy change and part way with Mike Greller, others say find a new swing or that this is only temporary. My opinion on all this is pretty simple, golf is hard and Spieth hasn't seen struggles like this ever before so he doesn’t know what to do. Like I said he was the top at every level, he never struggled, always competed and always won and now he's not doing any of it and he lost. I can personally attest to what it feels like to be lost in the game of golf. No matter how good you hit the ball or putt that day and you still don’t score well. It's perplexing, painful, depressing. They say it's lonely at the top, but when you hit the bottom lonely doesn't even begin to describe the pain you feel. I wish you the best Jordan and myself and your millions of fans across the globe are looking forward to your return to the winner’s circle.
Tyler’s Take:
On Spieth- It is hard to believe that Spieth still has not found his golf game. He looked poised to go on an incredible run for many years. It is hard to say what exactly is causing this multi-year slump for someone we saw sit on top of the golf world for an extended period of time. I think Jordan has tried to change his golf game so much the last few years he has forgotten what brought him so much success years ago. He clearly is lacking in confidence and second guessing himself over many shots. I am a firm believer that he needs a new caddy. The change does not have to be permanent, but I think a break from his longtime caddy, Michael Greller would be a starting point to find his game again. As time goes on my hope for him conquering his demons’ fades. There is hope for Jordan though as the same thing appeared to happen with Jason Day who has had a nice resurgence lately after dealing with injuries and demons of his own.
Finally we are down to the Wyndham championship, the last tournament of the regular season before the playoffs. This is a big event for a lot of players that are either on the bubble for the playoffs or can improve their FedEx Cup rankings to move into playoff events or into the top 10. Sedgefield Country club is designed by one of my favorite course designers, Donald Ross who is known for his small, undulated greens that demand strong iron play and even better putting. Be prepared for a ball striking clinic this week.
Mike’s Predictions:
This week my winning pick is my guy Webb Simpson. He has 7 top-10 in seven starts here coupled with a win in 2011. He loves this golf course and plays well here. Don’t let his slow start last week at the PGA cloud your view. He is a top contender here and will bring the heat this week.
My notable to miss the cut this week goes to Jordan Spieth. As much as I want him to make the cut and find his game I just don’t believe he has it all together. With his recent struggles at the PGA I think they will have a lingering effect and prevent him from going low.
Finally my sleeper, this week's sleeper goes to Harold Varner III. Varner has been playing a lot of solid golf as of late. He's held a few leads going into Sunday and just hasn't been able to seal the deal. Sitting at 89th in the FedEx Cup rankings I believe he’s due for a blowout victory to set him up very comfortably going into the playoffs.