Collin Morikawa Teases But Can't Finish at Rocket Classic

One stroke back of the leaders through 10 holes on Sunday, Cal grad Collin Morikawa couldn’t get over the top to end his 20-month victory drought on the PGA Tour.

The world’s fifth-ranked player — highest rated among all entries at the Rocket Classic in Detroit — wound up with a final round score of 4-under 68 and tied for eighth. He shot 19 under par over 72 holes,

The 28-year-old, a two-time major champ, was hoping to win for the first time since capturing the ZoZo Championship in October 2023. He was tantalizingly close after a par on No. 10 put him in an eight-way tie for fifth place, just one stroke behind four sharing the top.

A bogey on No. 11 at the same time Jake Knapp birdied No. 7 pushed Morikawa three strokes off the lead and tied for 13th.

He jumped up to a share of fifth place and two strokes off the lead after a birdie on No. 17, his sixth of the day. But others at the top of the leaderboard continued to excel on the par-72 Detroit Golf Club course, and when Morikawa settled for a par on the 18th his hopes for a late rally ended.

Aldrich Potgieter, a 20-year-old South African, won a three-way playoff on the fifth extra hole after sharing the 72-hole lead with Americans Max Greyersman and Chris Kirk at 22 under par.

Kirk, 40, and Greyserman, 30, barely missed birdie putts on the 18th in regulation that could have won it. Potgieter sank a par putt on the same hole to force the three-way playoff.

They all made par on the first playoff hole at No. 18, before Kirk bogeyed the 15th to fall out of the competition. The two survivors played three more playoff holes before Potgieter won it with a birdie putt on the par-3,15th hole. 

Capping a week of low scores across the board, fellow Cal grad Michael Kim shot a 68 on Sunday and wound up at 15 under par and tied for 26th place.

Byeong Hun An, who played one season at Cal more than a decade ago, made a huge final-round leap after sitting in a tie for 82nd played after a 75 on Saturday. He shot a bogey-free 67 and climbed ?? spots to a share of 60th place at minus-9.

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