Sandwich, England—Collin Morikawa won the 2021 British Open by two shots after shooting a final-round 66. He scored -15 over the four days on the par 70 course now as championship golf has officially come to a close.
It was Morikawa’s first Open Championship title, and it came during his first time playing at the Open. He also won the PGA Championship last year during his first time at the tournament. Morikawa is the second player to win The Open Championship and PGA Championship before turning 25, he joined Tiger Woods with that milestone — who won The Open and PGA.
Ben Curtis did it here 18 years ago, winning The Open in his first attempt at any major. Prior to that, you would refer back to Tom Watson in 1975, who won the first of his five Claret Jugs at Carnoustie in his initial attempt.
Morikawa took home a nice piece of change with the win.
He earned $2,070,000 for the victory at Royal St. George’s Club. Morikawa has earned the most during the season so far. He has taken home $6.9 million in 19 tournaments this season.
The Open Championship was his second win of the season. He won the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession back in February.
“He’s a special kid. I’m lucky to have him. He seems like he has been there 100 times and he hasn’t,” caddie Jonathan Jakovac says. “It just goes to his mental strength and his maturity, and you add the freakish ball-striking to an absolute stone-cold demeanor who is very comfortable in all situations and you get someone special.”
It wasn’t an easy win for Morikawa who battled with American Jordan Spieth in the final round. Spieth has won three majors, including the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale and looked to come out on top after starting the fourth round behind. Despite Spieth’s late surge, Morikawa took a two-stroke lead with two final holes left two play in the final round of The Open.
He started the final round of the Open one shot behind the leader and finished two strokes ahead of Spieth. Despite Spieth’s late surge, Morikawa took a two-stroke lead with two final holes left two play in the final round of tournament.
“I think (the no crowd at the PGA) was a little overblown. You know the stakes of the PGA. You look at the leaderboard and we are tied with seven people for first in a major championship. There are no people there but we are in that moment knowing what is up for grabs. There’s no added pressure when there are fans … especially when you have the focus that kid has.”
Morikawa finished the tournament 15-under par. Spieth was 13-under while Jon Rahm and Louis Oosthuizen finished 11-under. South African Dylan Frittelli rounded out of the top five with a 9-under.
“I’m glad I look calm because the nerves are definitely up there. But you channel these nerves into excitement and energy, and that puts you away from a fear factor into this is something I want,” Morikawa said.
Collin will represent the United States at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics this summer.
• It is a second major win in just eight major starts.
• He joined Gene Sarazen, Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Jordan Spieth as the only players in the last 100 years with multiple major wins before age 25.
• He joined Woods as the only players to win The Open and PGA Championship before age 25.
• He became the seventh player since 1900 to win The Open on debut and first since Ben Curtis in 2003, also at Royal St. George’s. Jock Hutchison (1921), Denny Shute (1933), Ben Hogan (1953), Tony Lema (1964) and Tom Watson (1975) are the others.
• He became the sixth winner of The Open to record four rounds in the 60s joining Greg Norman (1993), Nick Price (1994), Woods (2000), Henrik Stenson (2016) and Spieth (2017).
• He joined Jones and Nicklaus as the only players to win multiple majors before age 25 when trailing entering the final round.
• Become the third player to win multiple majors with final rounds of 66 or better joining Nicklaus and Johnny Miller.
• His 265 total was one stroke shy of 72-hole tournament scoring record.
“Definitely one of the best putting performances of my life, especially inside 10 feet. I felt like it was as solid as it’s going to get. I don’t think I really missed many from that distance,” he said.
“Everything about my stats say I’m not a good putter. I feel like I can get a lot better. But in these situations, I feel like everything is thrown off the table. Forget about all your stats, it’s who can perform well in these situations.
“I’m going to try to figure out what worked today and use that for the future because I know I can putt well in these pressure situations. I’ve just got to keep doing that.”
