In what was a tight race to the finish for the PGA Championship with several players tied for or only a few strokes behind the lead, it was unclear who was going to pull ahead of the pack until 23-year-old Collin Morikawa stepped up to the 16th tee, a par four, and hit the drive of his life,
This shot set him up for a two-shot eagle and he followed it up with a birdie on 17, which put him ahead of the pack securing Morikawa’s first major championship. The only imperfect part about this moment was that there were no fans to give the obligatory roar. “This is one time I really wish there were crowds,” Morikawa said. “I was just praying for a straight bounce … and then after it bounced, it kind of got behind a tree that we couldn’t see around the corner. So once it bounced, I was like, ‘OK, I will take it anywhere.’
The only imperfect part of Morikawa’s afternoon was his celebration of all things which can generously be described as awkward.
In a world that will soon be post-Tiger, it seems that many people are looking for his successor much in the way everybody clung to Kobe after Jordan retired. I am already seeing some next-Tiger buzz for Morikawa, which is ludicrous and tends to crush the person that fans lay that burden on – Rory Mcilroy hasn’t won a major since 2014 and Jordan Spieth disappeared from the top of the leaderboards as quickly as he appeared. There will never be another Tiger, but Morikawa has a chance to pave his own legacy and this was a great start.
