Collin Morikawa left everything out there.
The only problem was so, too, did Hideki Matsuyama – and then some.
“Excuse my language, but f—,” said Morikawa, who turned in the fourth best 72-hole performance in relation to par in PGA Tour history, only to see his 32-under mark finish three shots shy of Matsuyama’s 35 under, a freshly minted record that also gave Matsuyama the title at The Sentry, the Tour’s annual season-opening shootout at Kapalua.
Morikawa let the expletive slip through a wide smile; he knew there wasn’t much else he could’ve done.
Matsuyama matched Morikawa’s 11-under 62 on Saturday before carding his third 65 of the week, which saw unusually calm conditions that made the Plantation Course, home to seven of the Tour’s eight 30-under-or-better performances, even more gettable. Matsuyama’s final round was highlighted by a hole-out eagle from 107 yards at the par-4 third hole and seven birdies, running Matsuyama’s tournament total of birdies or better to 35, another new Tour record.
“35 under par, that’s low,” Morikawa continued. “I mean, he was matching me yesterday shot for shot, and I felt like I was playing lights out, right? Like, yes, you could leave some shots out there, but you shoot 11 under on any golf course, you’re going to be happy, right? Today he just never let up. Then you get to the third hole and the guy holes it. I just knew I had to be on top of everything, and just kind of let a few slip on that front nine.
“Played a good back nine, but to win on a course like this, conditions like this, you got to have it for 72, and I had it for 65.”
Morikawa has now twice finished runner-up at Kapalua, his first since 2023 when Jon Rahm closed in 63 to clip Morikawa, the leader by six shots after three rounds, by two.
This one didn’t sting quite as bad.
“It’s a little better than two years ago, right?” Morikawa said. “I mean, I would have had to shoot – he shot, what, 8 under today? I would have had to shoot 10 today. I don’t know how many 10-unders were shot today.”
(Answer: One, by Justin Thomas, who finished way back in a share of 26th.)
And so, Morikawa, who is coming off just the second winless year of his pro career, could only take this one in stride and hope that the next time he tees it up, likely at Pebble Beach in a few weeks, he’s ready to duplicate much of what he displayed at Kapalua.
“We’re going to go on a roll pretty soon,” Morikawa predicted, “it’s just hopefully sooner rather than later.”
