SANDWICH, England – Tiger’s killer irons and instinct. Phil’s courage, smile and warmth.

Fellow Californian Collin Morikawa invoked thoughts of the two most successful Golden State-bred golfers who came before him as he became the first player to win two different majors in his debut at The 149th Open.

One is reluctant to tie the 24-year-old’s achievements to these legends, such is their enormity, but it is impossible not to watch the now five-time PGA TOUR winner and be amazed. False dawns for new prodigies have come and gone but in Morikawa we seem blessed with a stayer.

“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.”

Let’s just take it all in, shall we?

With his win at Royal St. George’s, Morikawa is the first player in the history of the game to win two different majors on their first attempt. His name stands alone. No Woods, Mickelson, Nicklaus, Hogan, Player or Palmer.

Granted a pandemic of epic proportions made the achievement more accessible but it still should not be discounted. And it is just the first of a myriad of accolades.

• 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.

Credit where credit is due.

Furthermore Morikawa finished Sunday with a bogey-free 4-under 66 to best Spieth by two. It was just his second event playing links style golf after last week’s Scottish Open on the European Tour.

And he had the courage to change three of his scoring irons AND change his putting grip from saw-style to conventional for longer putts pre-tournament. That is Mickelson-esque.

The enormity of history wasn’t even a featherweight on his back as he coupled a Claret Jug with his 2020 acquisition of the Wanamaker Trophy at the PGA Championship.

The Cal graduate won at Harding Park with no spectators and even though he burst out of a seven-way tie with a chip-in on the 14th followed by an incredible eagle on the drivable par-4 16th, the doubters said he wouldn’t have done so amidst a raucous gallery.

But a vociferous 32,000 fans were at Royal St. George’s and they had earlier shown a distinct favoritism to fellow contenders Louis Oosthuizen and Spieth. They quickly warmed to Morikawa. He earned it.

“He seems to perform better in big spots,” Jakovac says.

“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.”

Tiger-esque focus.

“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.

And Tiger-like ball-striking.

Morikawa ranked fifth in the field for greens in regulation, hitting 75%. Pre-tournament, he was gaining 1.5 strokes on average a round in Strokes Gained: Approach, leading the TOUR in the statistic by a healthy margin.

“His dispersion is just better. He hits his 6-iron as close as others out here hit their 9-irons,” Jakovac explains.

But he was up against Oosthuizen, who held the lead after the first three rounds, and leads the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting.

Morikawa? He entered the week ranked 172nd on TOUR in putting. Yet he led the Open Championship with just 111 putts and didn’t have a three-putt all week.

“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.”

The intellect both on and off course is palpable. So too is his sincerity in his praise of others within his circle. He even had the crowd sing Happy Birthday to Jakovac as part of his victory speech.

“I just enjoy these moments,” Morikawa said as the secret to success. “I talk about it so much that we love what we do and you have to embrace it. You have to be excited about these opportunities, and that’s how I looked at it today, especially coming down the stretch.

“At 24 years old, it’s so hard to look back at the two short years that I have been a pro and see what I’ve done because I want more. I enjoy these moments and I love it, and I want to teach myself to embrace it a little more… but I just want more.

“When you’re in these moments and you truly love what you do, which I love playing golf and competing against these guys, these are the best moments ever.”

We should all enjoy his success because if the trend continues, we won’t need to compare him to others – his name will well and truly continue to stand out on its own.

THIRD ROUND

SANDWICH, England – The last two championship trips to the Kent coast wouldn’t exactly qualify as kingmaker moments.

Darren Clarke, your Champion Golfer of the Year the last time The Open passed this way in 2011, was a 42-year-old longshot who hasn’t won on either the PGA Tour or European circuit since. Prior to that, it was Ben Curtis, who began the week as a 300-to-1 outsider, who hoisted the claret jug. He retired in 2018.

This is neither an indictment of the past two winners at Sandwich nor Royal St. George’s, but as Brooks Koepka observed earlier this week, “it’s not my favorite.” It’s a commonly held theme and probably the byproduct of one too many blind shots, a haphazard routing and a modern history that qualifies as underwhelming.

But that reputation appears destined for a much-needed makeover on Sunday thanks to a wonderful confluence of outcomes. Through 54 sun-splashed holes, this Sandwich Open appears to have it all, from Louis Oosthuizen, who has been snake bitten on a major Sunday twice this summer, to Collin Morikawa, who is going for the historic debutant double, to Jordan Spieth, who is back in the process and relishing every wild moment.

Some might consider Oosthuizen’s relentless pursuit of his second major championship brave considering how he came up short at the PGA Championship and last month’s U.S. Open, where he started the final round alone at the top only to finish second to Jon Rahm. At Kiawah Island, he was third through 54 holes and finished tied for second to Phil Mickelson.

Asked what lessons he could have possibly learned on those two near-misses that could help on Sunday: “Go one better,” he laughed with his signature toothy smile. “You know, finishing second isn’t great, so I will play my heart out tomorrow and see if I can lift the claret jug again.”

If his performance Saturday is any indication, there might be more to the learning curve than simple math.

Outwardly blessed with a relaxed demeanor, signs of concern started to show following bogeys at Nos. 11 and 13. But even when things looked as if it might all unravel for Oosthuizen, the full-time Tour player and part-time farmer proved why his game was made for major championships. As NBC Sports analyst David Feherty said of the South African’s swing, “It’s like watching a door opening and closing.”

He rebounded with a par save at the par-5 14^th and converted for birdie on the 16^th hole, before the first packed house in golf since Day 1 at the 2020 Players Championship.

“It felt like it was a Sunday afternoon, really, when I made the putt [on 16] and I was taking the lead,” said Oosthuizen, who has rounds of 64-65-69 for a one-stroke lead over Morikawa. “I had a few loose swings before that on my iron shots and sort of needed that little boost and made a really good swing on 16 and a few good ones coming in.”GOLF CENTRALMorikawa shrugs off sloppy start, a shot backBY RYAN LAVNER  — JULY 17, 2021 AT 3:40 PM

Collin Morikawa bounced back from an odd start to shoot 68 Saturday at The Open. He enters the final round one shot back.

Morikawa has no such distractions. The composed 24-year-old won last year’s PGA Championship in his first start and is now poised to become the first player to win twice in his major debuts as an Open rookie.

At last year’s PGA Championship, he began the final round in a similar position (two strokes off the lead) and outplayed the likes of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau. Based on his play this week – which is always highlighted by majestic ball-striking and a dash of clutch putting – a similar scenario is exceedingly possible, likely even.

It was also a good sign for Morikawa that he rebounded following a poor start with bogeys at two of his first five holes, by playing his last 12 holes in 4 under par.

“I think just believing in myself. I wasn’t hitting that poor of golf shots. Just wasn’t turning out great,” Morikawa said. “No matter what happens tomorrow I know I produced good golf shots already this week and I’m capable of it. I just have to stick to that and believe in the process.”

Jordan Spieth ended his third round of The Open where he began, but as always there was nothing stagnant about his play.  

The process. For so long Saturday it’s where Spieth was living, rent free. He was doing all of the Jordan things – carving drives into bounding fairways, deft iron shots and rolling in putts. So many putts.

The 2017 Open champion moved to within one shot of the lead with birdies at Nos. 2 and 4 and added two more at Nos. 6 and 7 to briefly tie Oosthuizen and turn at 3 under for the day. For those who longed for the Jordan of old the last few years, there he was bounding down fairways, yammering away to caddie Michael Greller and poised to win another major. Until he wasn’t.

A bogey at the 11^th hole stopped his momentum, followed by another at No. 17. The coup de grace came with a missed 2-footer for par at the 18^th hole. Spieth declined all media request and marched to the practice putting green dejected, but still just three shots back and alone in third place. Still poised to play a role in changing the Royal St. George’s narrative.

This is not to say there aren’t a potential Clarke or Curtis lurking to continue the Sandwich status quo. Dylan Frittelli is the quintessential Royal St. George’s wildcard, although even at 106^th in the world ranking he’s still higher than the last two winners at Sandwich (Clarke 111^th and Curtis 396^th), and he’s tied for sixth.

Jack Nicklaus is famously quoted as saying that Open venues, “get worse the farther south you travel.” Sunday’s outcome might not change that, but it could dramatically change what many think about Royal St. George’s.

Morikawa has no such distractions. The composed 24-year-old won last year’s PGA Championship in his first start and is now poised to become the first player to win twice in his major debuts as an Open rookie.

At last year’s PGA Championship, he began the final round in a similar position (two strokes off the lead) and outplayed the likes of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau. Based on his play this week – which is always highlighted by majestic ball-striking and a dash of clutch putting – a similar scenario is exceedingly possible, likely even.

It was also a good sign for Morikawa that he rebounded following a poor start with bogeys at two of his first five holes, by playing his last 12 holes in 4 under par.

“I think just believing in myself. I wasn’t hitting that poor of golf shots. Just wasn’t turning out great,” Morikawa said. “No matter what happens tomorrow I know I produced good golf shots already this week and I’m capable of it. I just have to stick to that and believe in the process.”

The process. For so long Saturday it’s where Spieth was living, rent free. He was doing all of the Jordan things – carving drives into bounding fairways, deft iron shots and rolling in putts. So many putts.

The 2017 Open champion moved to within one shot of the lead with birdies at Nos. 2 and 4 and added two more at Nos. 6 and 7 to briefly tie Oosthuizen and turn at 3 under for the day. For those who longed for the Jordan of old the last few years, there he was bounding down fairways, yammering away to caddie Michael Greller and poised to win another major. Until he wasn’t.

A bogey at the 11^th hole stopped his momentum, followed by another at No. 17. The coup de grace came with a missed 2-footer for par at the 18^th hole. Spieth declined all media request and marched to the practice putting green dejected, but still just three shots back and alone in third place. Still poised to play a role in changing the Royal St. George’s narrative.

This is not to say there aren’t a potential Clarke or Curtis lurking to continue the Sandwich status quo. Dylan Frittelli is the quintessential Royal St. George’s wildcard, although even at 106^th in the world ranking he’s still higher than the last two winners at Sandwich (Clarke 111^th and Curtis 396^th), and he’s tied for sixth.

Jack Nicklaus is famously quoted as saying that Open venues, “get worse the farther south you travel.” Sunday’s outcome might not change that, but it could dramatically change what many think about Royal St. George’s champions.

THIRD ROUND

SANDWICH, England – Louis Oosthuizen took a deep breath after signing his scorecard and put on his best blank face before exiting the scoring area to face a myriad of media stops at The 149th Open.

The South African is halfway to what would no doubt be an incredibly well-received second Open and major title after backing up a 64 with a second round 5-under 65 at Royal St. George’s – notching up a 36-hole record at 11-under 129.

He knew what was coming. The same questions. Those bloody same questions about routinely being the groomsmen rather than the groom himself. Deep down it has to feel like nails on a chalkboard.

But the pause – and collection of composure of thoughts – was certainly deliberate. Oosthuizen is a glass half full guy. Not half empty. And he knew he needed to just power through the commitments. Besides – if he’s hearing them again it means he’s playing well. 

It is no secret the 38-year-old has finished runner up in majors six times since his maiden major win at the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews. This includes the PGA Championship from May and the U.S. Open in June this year. He has also been second at THE PLAYERS in the past.

This time he is once again very well poised. But the names lining up right behind him are certainly nerve inducing.

Oosthuizen has a two-shot lead over Collin Morikawa (64) and is three clear of 2017 Open champion Jordan Spieth (67). World No. 1 Dustin Johnson (65) is part of a three-way tie for fourth just four shots back. This won’t be handed to him no matter how much he deserves it.

When the question about his “frustration” came as expected Oosthuizen went on the front foot.

“It’s more inspiration I would say, knowing that I can still compete in majors. I just need to pull it through and see if I can go one better on this weekend,” he said.

“The game is good, but I know it’s a really good leaderboard. I have to play good golf this weekend if I want to come out first.”

In May, it was Phil Mickelson who bested Oosthuizen. The killer blow coming when he found water with his third shot into a par 4 down the stretch. In June he was playing solidly until Jon Rahm made back-to-back birdies to finish and with the feeling he needed to push a wayward drive on the penultimate hole found a canyon.

It’s all in the experience bank now.

“In a few of them I needed to play just that little bit better coming down the stretch,” he conceded noting a need for aggression at times.

“Right now I think where my game is at, I just need to put myself in position, and this year is the best I’ve been putting, and I just need to hit greens and give myself any opportunities for birdies.”

Should Oosthuizen win on Sunday he would join Julius Boros as players to wait 11 years between their first and second majors. Boros will keep the record though – by nine days.

Records are there for the challengers also.

Morikawa’s 64 in the morning wave posted the lowest 36 holes in an Open at Royal St. George’s (131) only for Oosthuizen to take it just hours later. All that would be forgotten if he wins on his Open Championship debut and become the first player to win two separate majors at their first attempt.

He will also look to emulate Ben Curtis – the last player to win an Open on debut – who coincidentally won at Royal St. George’s in 2003.

Willie Park Sr (1860), Tom Kidd (1873), Mungo Park (1874), Jock Hutchison (1921), Denny Shute (1933), Ben Hogan (1953), Tony Lema (1964) and Tom Watson (1975) are the only players pre Curtis to all win The Open on debut.

On Friday he played with wisdom beyond his experience, noting some of his impressive par saves were perhaps more important than his seven birdies. 

“Out here in links golf you’re going to hit bad shots. You’re going to hit bad approach shots, bad tee shots,” he said. “To see the par save on 13 I’m really going to draw on that for the rest of the week because sometimes you have to just bite your tongue, play safe, and try and make par best you can. Sometimes bogey is going to be your friend.”

Spieth concurs with Morikawa, especially as he believes officials have been nice in the opening two rounds, but won’t be as accommodating over the weekend. 

“These pin locations, though, they may not look so tricky on television, but a lot of them are on crowns and knobs and they’ve left a lot of opportunities to make them very, very subtly challenging,” Spieth warns, 

“I think that that’s what’s going to happen, which will obviously make it a little bit harder to make putts or get balls really close to the hole. They made it a good mix with some fun pins these first couple days.”

Spieth joined the lead at the 12th hole but faded from there. His 1-under 34 on the back nine was bettered, or equaled by, the top 15 on the leaderboard. 

“Those last six holes were kind of frustrating. I think I need to bring more food on the golf course tomorrow. I really just got in a weird head space, like fatigued there on the 13th green as we were waiting and hitting putts,” Spieth said.

“I just didn’t stay focused like I was early in the round. Wasn’t very sharp. It’s an easy solution for tomorrow. But the finish on 18 probably securing a second to last group on a Sunday is a good position to be in.”

And then, there lurking, is Johnson. The two-time major winner seeks a third leg of the career slam. 

“Obviously I feel like I’m in a good position heading into the weekend,” Johnson said.

“The course is definitely firming up. It was firmer this afternoon and it’s definitely going to keep getting firmer if the weather stays like this. I like the position I’m in going into the weekend. Still going to have to play some really good golf if I want to contend on Sunday.”

FIRST ROUND

SANDWICH, England — Jordan Spieth rolled in putts like it was 2017. Louis Oosthuizen put those runner-up finishes in the last two majors out of mind and soared to the top of the leaderboard.

They gave The 149th Open Championship a familiar feel on Thursday.

The roars and cheers of the biggest golf crowd since the pandemic rumbled around this quirky course off Sandwich Bay, just like pre-COVID times.

For Spieth, that was as welcome as being an Open contender once again.

“It feels inside the ropes, from the first tee forward, the most normal of any tournament we have played thus far relative to that same tournament in previous years,” Spieth said.

His 5-under 65 certainly turned back time to four years ago when he lifted the claret jug at Royal Birkdale — the last English venue to host The 149th Open — when he was hitting the ball better than he ever has.

Spieth was a shot off the lead held by Oosthuizen, who saved par from a fairway bunker on No. 18 for a 6-under 64. That tied the lowest opening round at Royal St. George’s, previously set by Christy O’Connor Jr. in 1981.

That didn’t look as though it would be the case after the South African opened with seven straight pars. He followed with six birdies in his next nine holes.

“I’ve learnt over the years playing major championships that patience is the key thing,” said Oosthuizen, who hasn’t won one of them since The Open at St. Andrews in 2010. There have been six runner-up finishes in the majors since then, including in the last two.

Oosthuizen and Spieth were among the morning starters who enjoyed the best of the conditions, notably soft bounces on the most undulating fairways and greens on the Open rotation.

Yet many of the world’s best couldn’t take advantage.

Patience already might be wearing thin for U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm, who slapped his thigh in frustration after making a double-bogey at No. 9, where he took two shots to get out of a pot bunker in the fairway. He shot 71, like Bryson DeChambeau, who spent much of his first round up to his knees in deep grass after being unable to use his power to overwhelm Royal St. George’s.

Shane Lowry, the winner in 2019, also shot 71 in front of a crowd that has a daily capacity of 32,000 this week. Not since Royal Portrush, where Lowry won, has any golf tournament seen so many spectators through the gates.

With last year’s event canceled because of the pandemic, Lowry could finally be announced at an Open as the reigning champion golfer.

“It was a very special day for me,” he said.

Not so for the majority of the afternoon starters, who encountered more prolonged gusts off the English Channel and slightly drier conditions.

Rory McIlroy birdied the last to salvage a 70 in his bid for his first major title in seven years. Justin Thomas shot 72. Phil Mickelson shot 80, his highest start ever in The 149th Open, that left him tied for last place.

Benjamin Hebert and Webb Simpson, with rounds of 66 that tied them for fourth place with three others, had the best scores from the afternoon. Former PGA champion Collin Morikawa, in his first links test, and English favorite Tommy Fleetwood were at 67.

Fleetwood would like nothing more than to become the first Englishman with his name on that silver jug since Nick Faldo in 1992.

“It’s been a long time since an Englishman has won the Open, and I would love to be the next one. So we’ll see,” Fleetwood said.

Brian Harman was tied for second with Spieth after making five birdies in his first eight holes and finishing with a 65. Top-ranked Dustin Johnson hit 14 greens in regulation and said he was pleased with his round of 68 that had him in a tie for 19th.

Spieth had not won since Birkdale until he ended his slump at the Valero Texas Open in April. He looked the happiest of anyone Thursday, saying he liked where his game was at after matching his lowest score at an Open. He also had a 65 on the first day at Birkdale.

And he made reference to that victory while running off four straight birdies starting at No. 5, telling former caddie John Wood — part of the U.S. broadcast team — that it was just like 2017 the way he was making putts and Wood was watching him. Wood was caddying in the final round at Birkdale for Matt Kuchar, who was second.

“Here I feel for the first time since then I’m at least coming in with a bit of form, a bit of confidence, and really my start lines off the tee,” Spieth said.

It was only Oosthuizen ahead of him. And that was no real shock, considering the South African was tied for the lead in the first and third rounds at last month’s U.S. Open and in the second round at the PGA Championship in May.

The return of the spectators made it feel like a proper Open, especially on the hill overlooking the par-3 6th hole that attracted some of the biggest galleries of a day that started with a blue, cloudless sky.

Just before midday, the group containing Stewart Cink, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer all hit tee shots inside 6 feet of the pin. As they walked onto the green, one spectator shouted: “You three should be professionals.”

To which Kaymer’s caddie, Craig Connolly, replied back across the green: “You should be a comedian.”

“I feel like the fans here are very knowledgeable about the sport,” Spieth said, “and they’re also having a great time.”