Collin Morikawa Is Near-Perfect to Beat Justin Thomas in a Playoff

Morikawa also hit driver on the 14th that rolled 12 feet away. He narrowly missed the eagle putt, and then his chances appeared to vanish on the next hole.

He was in thick rough right of the fairway on the par-5 15th, unsure he could get over the slope to the next section of fairway. It came out heavy, just through the fairway into light rough 190 yards away. By then, Thomas was already on the green in two. Morikawa went through a bunker to the steep slope by the green, and did well to get up-and-down for par.

Still, he was three down with three to play. Thomas missed a 10-foot par putt on the 16th. Morikawa holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th. And then Thomas, who couldn’t reach the 18th green from a fairway bunker, missed a 10-foot par putt for the win in regulation.

“It’s completely unacceptable to give up a three-shot lead with three to go,” Thomas said. “I’m upset, I’m disappointed in myself. But at the end of the day it’s over with now, and I just need to take some time this afternoon and tonight to build on it and figure out what I can do better going into next week.”

The starting times were moved up to avoid a forecast of thunderstorms. The weather was pleasant for Ohio in July. The final round was far more unpredictable.

Thomas, staked a two-shot lead, had gone 55 holes without a bogey at Muirfield Village and then made back-to-back bogeys with a wedge in his hand from the fairway.

Hovland was the first to take advantage with a wedge to 2 feet for birdie on No. 3, the first of three straight birdies. Morikawa quickly joined him with a tee shot that banged into the pin on the par-3 fourth and settled inches away for birdie. Then, he hit his second shot to a front pin on the par-5 fifth to 3 feet for eagle.