How does Collin Morikawa’s collapse in Hawaii rank among the largest blown 54-hole leads in PGA Tour history?
What happened to Collin Morikawa on Sunday was a rare blunder, as he became only the ninth player to blow a six-shot final-round lead in the history of the PGA Tour.
Morikawa looked to be sailing smoothly towards a win at the Sentry Tournament of Champions until he made a hat trick of bogeys to fumble his lead, from which he couldn't bounce back.
Although his initial lead of six shots was reduced to two by the time he reached the 14th hole, he was still in a good position to come through if he could just keep up with par. But his bogeys at 14th,15th and 16th holes meant his wait for a first PGA Tour title since the 2021 Open Championship continues.
Jon Rahm won the first elevated event of the season, beating the 25-year-old by a margin of 2 strokes. Compared to Morikawa's final round of just under par, Rahm hit 10-under 63 in the final round.
These are the eight other pros who share the unfortunate record of blowing a six-shot lead:
• Bobby Cruickshank- 1928 Florida Open (final-round 80)
• Gay Brewer- 1969 Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic (73)
• Hal Sutton- 1983 Anheuser-Busch Classic (77)
• Greg Norman- 1996 Masters (78)
• Sergio Garcia- 2005 Wachovia Championship (72)
• Spencer Levin- 2012 WM Phoenix Open (75)
• Dustin Johnson- 2017 WGC-HSBC Champions (77)
• Scottie Scheffler- 2022 Tour Championship (73)
Jon Rahm trumps Morikawa to win the Sentry Tour of Champions
Even Jon Rahm wouldn't have believed until the fourth round that he was going to be the winner. After the first three rounds, the former World No. 1 was in fifth, trailing behind Morikawa who was first, and JJ Spaun, Scottie Scheffler, and Matt Fitzpatrick, who were tied for second.
However, Rahm's brilliant showing in the final 18 holes and Morikawa's slump worked in his favor to earn him $2,700,000 as the winner of the first elevated event of the season. Tom Hoge and Max Homa were tied for third behind Rahm and Morikawa.
"I’m going to need a small miracle," said the Spaniard before the final round.
However, a bogey on the very first hole of the final 18 meant he needed "a larger miracle" in his own words.
After the match, Rahm said that if someone had told him before the fourth round that he was going to win, he wouldn't believe them.
"But at that point, it's not like winning is really that in mind, you've just got to get to work and start making birdies and that's what I did," said the former World No.1.
For the American, it was another disappointing result as he hasn't added any event to his PGA Tour win tally since the 2021 Open Championship.
"Sadness. I don’t know. It sucks. You work so hard and you give yourself these opportunities and just bad timing on bad shots and it kind of added up really quickly," the 25-year-old said after his disappointing performance.