Morikawa wins PGA Championship in stunning way

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Justin Thomas looks unbeatable for the first 15 holes, but the wind seems to catch up to him (as it did everyone else) as he struggles over the final three. When it counts, though, and under the most extreme pressure, he birdies the 18th hole twice in three tries in the playoff, dusting off first Patrick Reed and then defending champion Xander Schauffele. With his 12th PGA TOUR win, Thomas moves into pole position in the FedExCup. He also slides into third place behind only Tiger Woods (34) and Jack Nicklaus (20) for most wins before age 27 over the last 60 years. Oh, and he’s the first TOUR winner of the new decade. Welcome to the Monday Finish. THREE KEYS TO SUCCESS 1. Thomas regrouped. The ending was topsy-turvy, with first Thomas and then Schauffele failing to secure the win after having one hand on the trophy on the 18th hole in regulation. The first unforced error was Thomas’ crazy second shot that wound up in the penalty area, leading to a bogey 6. He later called the hole “just a disaster.� Then came Schauffele’s inability to two-putt from roughly 35 feet, his first effort trickling some seven feet past the pin. “I should have won the tournament. I know it. Everyone knows it.� Out came Patrick Reed to join them in a playoff, but it was Thomas who regrouped better than either of the other two, making two birdies in the three times he was forced to play the 18th in overtime. 2. He was a mid-round superstar. How good were Thomas’ four straight birdies from holes 8-11 at windy Kapalua as he took control of the tournament? His tee shot at the par-3 11th was the closest to the pin all day, and he was the only one to even get within 10 feet. But maybe it’s best to let playing partner Xander Schauffele put the winner’s mid-round hot streak in context. “It was windy,� Schauffele said. “That stretch of holes J.T. went 4- or 5-under, I’d like to see anyone else try it. He was hitting ridiculous shots, making good putts in the wind…�  3. He is Mr. Hawaii. “For some reason I was supposed to win this week,� Thomas said. Maybe that reason is he is imminently comfortable playing in Hawaii, where since 2015 he is 131 under par in the two official TOUR events there. Next best: Jimmy Walker at 93 under. Thomas was a ball-striking machine at Kapalua, ranking second in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, SG: Approach-the-Green, and Proximity to the Hole. He was third in Greens in Regulation. OBSERVATIONS  Wind golf is hard. Of his three-putt on the last hole of regulation, Schauffele said, “I got gusted.� What he meant was his first effort, from about 35 feet, seemed to get blown about seven feet past the hole, leaving a tricky comebacker, which he missed. “I guess I’ll have to work on some wind-putting,� he said. He wasn’t the only one. Patrick Reed also used the “gusted� term in his post-round remarks. “Unfortunately I had two putts really to close it, and one of them got gusted on,� Reed said, “and then this last one, with the wind and the break, just got me again.� Thomas, Spieth neck and neck. Friends, competitors and co-valedictorians for the Class of 2011, Thomas and Spieth have drawn several comparisons. Here are two more: With his 12th win, Thomas takes a slim lead over Spieth (11), who once enjoyed a sizeable lead. Also, Thomas made seven birdies in the final round, which was his 54th round with seven or more birdies on TOUR since 2015. He is second only to, yes, Spieth (55).   QUOTEBOARD “I know it’s hard, but I made it about five times as hard as it needed to be.� – Justin Thomas, after prevailing despite a bogey 6 on the last hole of regulation. “Just sort of a rookie move trying to close out a tournament.� – Xander Schauffele on his three-putt at the 72nd hole to fall into a playoff with Thomas and Reed. “I was 8 under through 21 holes, so it was great golf as a whole.� – Patrick Reed (66, T2), who lost to Thomas on the third hole of the playoff.  SOCIAL SNAPSHOT

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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Sebastian Munoz saw the tough weather conditions on the way to The RSM Classic and figured all he could do was keep his head down and make birdies. He wound up with a 10-under 60 to shatter his career round by six shots. RELATED: Leaderboard | Jordan Spieth and wife welcome first child Scoring was so low Thursday at Sea Island that all that got Munoz was a one-shot lead. The Colombian, who won his first PGA TOUR event just over two years ago, birdied his final hole at Seaside. He led by one stroke over Sea Island member Zach Johnson at Seaside, while three other players were one shot behind. Past champion Mackenzie Hughes, Chez Reavie and Scott Stallings each had a 9-under 63 on the Plantation course. Four players were tied at 8 under, led by Canadian Corey Conners (62 at Seaside). His wife, Malory, gave birth last week to their first child, a girl named Reis. Jhonattan Vegas, Talor Gooch and Russell Henley shot 64 at Plantation. Scoring was so ideal that 33 players shot 66 or lower on the two courses, located just off the Atlantic Ocean, and all but 21 players in the field of 156 broke par. The cumulative score in relation to par at the Seaside Course was 288 under, 42 shots lower than the previous record set in 2018. The scoring average of 66.308 at the Seaside was a tournament record, and the second-lowest for any round on the PGA TOUR since 1983, when the TOUR began tracking hole-by-hole data. The record is 66.28 at Indian Wells in the 2003 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Munoz matched Tommy Gainey’s 2012 record for low round at Seaside; Hughes, Stallings and Reavie tied for low round at the Plantation set last year by winner Robert Streb and Bronson Burgoon. A warm, sunny day that began with just enough light rain to soften the already pure greens is expected to morph into more common November weather on the Georgia coast Friday with a drop of about 10 degrees in the temperature and wind forecast to gust as high as 30 mph. “When you’ve got just absolute pure conditions weather-wise and pure conditions on the golf course — the best I’ve ever seen these two golf courses, period — you know you’ve got to get after it,” said the 45-year-old Johnson, who hit all 18 greens. “It was a perfect day and we all knew it (low scores) was out there,” added Cameron Smith, who had a 66 at the Seaside. Munoz, however, was staying in the present for his best round as a professional. He hit 11 fairways and 16 greens, made six birdies on the front nine and punctuated the day with a 12-foot eagle putt at No. 15 and a 10-foot birdie putt at No. 18. “I felt great yesterday playing the pro-am, basically the same weather for two days, so I knew I was hitting it good,” he said. “I just let it happen.” And for tomorrow? “I haven’t really looked at the forecast,” he said. “I don’t know how much it’s going to blow tomorrow or if it’s going to be cold or not, so I’m just kind of here right now and I’ll adjust tomorrow and see what happens.” Johnson was the only player who had a reasonable shot at a sub-60 round. He was 9 under through 15 holes after making a 7-footer for birdie at No. 15 and missed birdie attempts of 10, 20 and 25 feet on the final three holes. “It hit me (the chance to shoot 59) after I birdied 12 and 13 and I got to 8 under,” Johnson said. “Making birdie on 15, I was like, ‘Well, two more and I’m right there.’ I gave myself looks, pretty good looks and that’s all you can hope for.” Johnson also had a shot at 59 in the TOUR Championship in 2007 until hitting into a bunker on the par-3 18th hole at East Lake and having to settle for par and a 60. Johnson and playing partners Matt Kuchar (65) and Joel Dahmen (65) didn’t make a bogey.

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