Collin Morikawa matches Tiger Woods with rare British Open feat
Collin Morikawa has produced a sensational Final Round to claim the 149th British Open and in doing so matched a special Tiger Woods achievement on the PGA Tour.
Morikawa held off Jordan Spieth with an ice-cool Final Round to finish on 15-under and claim the British Open at Royal St George's.
WOW: Golf world reacts to Open rival's 'petty' Dechambeau sledge
'REALLY BAD': Aussie golfers in 'horrific' chaos at British Open
'THIS IS NUTS': Golf world stunned by 'disgusting' incident
Spieth was filthy with himself and blamed a couple of "dumb mistakes" at the end of his third round for costing him the chance of winning a second Claret Jug and finish two shots behind Morikawa.
Morikawa claimed his second major at the age of 24 putting him in illustrious company.
The American joined golf legend Tiger Woods as the only men to have won two majors (The Open and the PGA Championship) by the age of 25.
The packed galleries, enjoying a memorable finale after last year's cancellation, roared on Spieth.
But despite a return to his best, he was unable to catch Morikawa, finishing 13 under, and left to rue his bogey-bogey finish the night before.
Morikawa showed impressive composure in front of a 32,000-strong crowd in the galleries to create history.
A magical moment for @Collin_Morikawa. pic.twitter.com/oX6JXIAMWn
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 18, 2021
Collin Morikawa now joins Tiger Woods as only the second player to win both the Open Championship and PGA Championship before turning 25 years old, per @ESPNStatsInfo. pic.twitter.com/FazmoxhOdV
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 18, 2021
“Champion Golfer of the Year” pic.twitter.com/mHbUm5C17W
— Collin Morikawa (@collin_morikawa) July 18, 2021
Only two players in men's golf history have won The Open Championship and the PGA Championship before turning 25:
🏆 Collin Morikawa
🏆 Tiger Woods pic.twitter.com/rhU0VMijeu— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 18, 2021
Morikawa's first 50 PGA Tour events as a pro.
5 wins
2 majors
4 major top 10s
$14M earned
Filthy.— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) July 18, 2021
Jordan Spieth upset over British Open finish
Spieth was left kicking himself after a round of 66 left him reeling on the final day.
"The finish yesterday was about as upset as I've taken a finish of a round to the house," he said after a round of 66 which matched that of Morikawa's on the last day at Royal St George's.
"I walked in and said 'Is there something that I can break?' I knew that was so important because I would have been in the final group.
"So I'm upset because I really felt like I played well enough to win and made a couple of really dumb mistakes that possibly if I had maybe played the week before, wouldn't have made.
"Like just stepping in and missing a couple footer on 18 yesterday, not really thinking about it.
"I finished two over on those holes, which what was frustrating as it would have been three of us (plus overnight leader Louis Oosthuizen) separated by at least three shots from the field and I would have been in the final group.
"So it was kind of a double whammy there. But at the same time, I did everything I could in the past few hours to win this championship.
"What good does it do to be upset? You come out today (thinking) 'Yes, I should be leading the tournament'. That's how I felt.
"But now I get to play with a chaser's mentality, which sometimes can be with a bit more freedom."
with AAP
Watch 'Mind Games', the new series from Yahoo Sport Australia exploring the often brutal mental toil elite athletes go through in pursuit of greatness:
Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.