Collin Morikawa couldn’t believe it when his birdie putt on the 18th hole didn’t drop. It would have given him the clubhouse lead at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Instead he settled for a par and a playoff with Daniel Berger.
But if that missed birdie putt on 18 left Morikawa stinging, his par lip out a hole later that ended the playoff had to really hurt.
Playing Colonial Country Club’s par-4 17th as the first playoff hole, the 23-year-old missed the fairway, missed the green and then gave himself a 3-footer for par to extend the match. It hit the right edge of the cup and rocketed out hard left of the hole.
Morikawa was the second player burned by that cup in the last half hour. Xander Schauffele held the 54-hole lead and was at 15 under and tied with Morikawa and Berger when he played the 17th, but a similar lip out led to a bogey. Schauffele then failed to birdie the 18th to get into the playoff.
The victory was Berger’s third on the PGA Tour. His other two victories came back to back at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in 2016 and 2017.
