Collin Morikawa grabs first win at Barracuda Championship, earns spot in FedExCup Playoffs
It didn’t take long for Collin Morikawa to find the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour.
In fact, it took him just six starts.
Morikawa rallied back on Sunday at the Barracuda Championship, firing a bogey-free 65 to pick up his first career win at Montreux Country Club in Reno, Nevada. The 22-year-old made birdie on his final three holes too, including a deep putt on No. 17, to seal the deal, too.
Wow.@Collin_Morikawa from DEEP!
The young stud has taken the lead.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/HPLS1UtsHe— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 28, 2019
“To be in that position is what I've wanted to do all summer,” Morikawa said, via the Golf Channel. “To finally have the lead, it was out of my control. You don't always want that, but it was something really special to finally get the win. To have my family out here, my girlfriend and some friends, just makes this week so much more special.”
Morikawa finished with 47 points in the PGA Tour’s only event that uses the modified Stableford format. Troy Merritt finished in second place with 44 points, and both John Chin and Robert Streb finished in third with 40 points.
The recent Stanford graduate has come very close to winning in recent weeks. He finished just shy of winning the 3M Open earlier this month — where fellow Tour newcomer Matthew Wolff grabbed his first career win — and then followed it up with a tie for fourth at the John Deere Classic the next week.
The win for Morikawa gives him fully-exempt status on Tour through the 2021 season and a spot in next year’s Sentry Tournament of Champions, The Players Championship and PGA Championship. Perhaps most importantly, however, Morikawa is now eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs this season.
Morikawa is now No. 46 in the FedExCup standings with just one week to go in the regular season. The top 125 in the standings after the Wyndham Championship next week will advance to The Northern Trust, the first playoff stop. The top 70 after that tournament will qualify for the BMW Championship before the top 30 advance to the Tour Championship the following week.
While his experience on Tour is extremely limited, Morikawa feels like he’s in a great place with his golf game at just the right time.
“I think the gates are open,” Morikawa said, via the Golf Channel. “I've been knocking on the door the past month or so, and the game's been feeling good.”
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