Collin Morikawa hit driver on the 294-yard par 4 16th that was perfect in flight and even better when it landed, hopping onto the green and rolling to 7 feet for an eagle that all but clinched victory on a mostly quiet, chilly afternoon at Harding Park.
In the first major without spectators, the 23-year-old Californian finished with a bang. The chip-in for birdie, the tee shot for eagle, it added to a 6-under 64 and the best closing round by a PGA champion in 25 years, and a two-shot victory over Paul Casey (66) and Dustin Johnson (68).
Casey, with his first good shot at winning a major, birdied the 16th to tie Morikawa for the lead.
Standing on the tee at the par-3 17th, he looked back and saw the ball roll toward the cup.
Now Morikawa has three PGA Tour victories and is No. 5 in the world, taking his place among the young stars by beating a cast of world-class players on the public course in San Francisco.
For Johnson, it was another major that got away. He had a one-shot lead and didn’t do too much wrong on the day except for not keeping it in the fairway for better chances of birdie. He drove into the hazard on the 16th and chipped in for birdie when it was too late, and a birdie on the 18th gave him a tie for second.
It was his fifth runner-up finish in a major — his only title is the 2016 U.S. Open — and his second straight runner-up in the PGA Championship.
Brooks Koepka proved to be all talk. He looked at the crowded leaderboard on Saturday night and didn’t see anyone with his experience of four major championships, even dishing on Johnson because he has “only won one.”
Koepka didn’t make a birdie until the 12th hole. He went from two shots behind to a 74, tying for 29th.
Matthew Wolff, who grew up with Morikawa in Southern California and turned pro last summer with him, shot a 65 and joined Jason Day, Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau and PGA Tour rookie Scottie Scheffler at 10-under 270.
Cameron Champ, among eight players who had a share of the lead at some point, lost momentum with a double bogey at the turn. DeChambeau dropped two shots at the turn and never caught up until it was too late.
