Collin Morikawa ended his 28-month drought by winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a five-under 67 to finish 22-under and a birdie on the 72nd hole. But on the 18th, he got a little longer break. How did he stay focused during that break while Jacob Bridgeman made his shot?

At the round four press conference at Pebble Beach, the seven-time PGA Tour winner confessed that he was trying to think about anything other than golf. But it was easy since he knew what shot he had to play. 

“The wind was going to be howling,” Morikawa continued. “Selfishly, I was kind of hoping Jacob would have finished a lot earlier because the wind was a little bit down. It was just a perfect number for me.” 

But for Bridgeman, it was a different scenario. He was on the sands and had to send the ball over the stands into the green. Unfortunately, his wedge sent the ball towards the rocks and into the ocean. Nevertheless, he sent the ball pretty close to the 18th flag, and the wind kept pulling it closer. But the wind posed as a hurdle when he took out his putter. The ball would just not stay in its place. In the end, he made it for a bogey. 

Meanwhile, Morikawa was just standing by the edge, looking at the waves, and taking it all in. 

“I didn't really have to do anything but just tried to keep pacing back and forth, look at the ocean,” he admitted. “A lot of good memories out there, so tried to do that in those 20 minutes of waiting.”

And when he swung, Collin Morikawa sent the ball a little to the left, and the wind did the rest. But it was the moment he likely knew that he was going to win. So, what was he thinking on the 18th with the 4-iron? 

Collin Morikawa Opens Up on His Stance at the 18th

“I saw where Jacob was,” Morikawa said. “I had no idea how his shot ended up over there. He probably was just trying to get really, really tight with his lines and tugged one.”

Confident that his shot would go to the right (carried by the wind), he said, “The way the swing has been feeling, the ball was never going to go left. So I actually aimed left edge. I'll tell him that later because I just knew. Slightly blocked.”

He initially thought that the ball would end up in the right bunker. But the wind blew in the 29-year-old’s favor. And he was “very happy about that.” 

What did you think of Bridgeman’s bogey and Morikawa’s birdie on the 18th?

Written by

Krushna Pattnaik

Edited by

Joyita Das