Jon Rahm wins a stunner at Kapalua after Morikawa wipeout

Jon Rahm left Maui with a trophy he wasnt expecting all because of a collapse from Collin Morikawa no one saw comingRahm started the final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions seven shots behind He bogeyed his first hole He was six shots back at the turn to Morikawa who had yet to make a bogey the entire week at KapaluaBit of a crazy day Im not going to lie Rahm saidA wild hour featured a sevenshot swing in four holes when Rahm ran off three straight birdies and an eagle and Morikawa playing two groups behind him made three straight bogeys on holes the rest of the field collectively played in 44under parIt ended with Rahm making one last birdie for a 10under 63 and a twoshot win over Morikawa 72 who went from a sure victory to a footnote in PGA Tour history as the ninth player to lose a sixshot lead going into the final roundIts going to hurt but Ive got to get over it because were still in the very early parts of the season Morikawa saidSo began the bold new year on the PGA Tour of elevated tournaments that average 20 million in prize money in a bid to bring the best together more often and reward them amid the challenge of Saudifunded LIV GolfRahm is riding a big wave winning for the third time in his last five starts worldwideIn my mind I feel like since August Ive been the best player in the world he saidFor Morikawa it was an epic wipeout even by Mauis standardsAlso readCollin Morikawa grabs share of early US Open leadHe still was three shots ahead when he bladed a 25yard bunker shot over the 14th green and made bogey On the par5 15th his 5wood leaked just enough right to go down the slope and leave his a daunting chip up the hill with the strong grain of grass into him He muffed the chip and took bogey And then on the 16th his wedge wasnt long enough and rolled off the false front of the green some 70 feet from the pin for a third straight bogeyHe still shot 63 Morikawa said He definitely made the birdies when he needed to But I also made bogeys When youre getting bogeys at that time of the tournament theyre costly I definitely felt the weight of thatHe wound up tying a PGA Tour record for losing the largest 54hole lead at six shots Eight other players have done that most recently Scottie Scheffler at the Tour Championship last year That event has a staggered start to par based on FedEx Cup standings For regular stroke play the last occasion was Dustin Johnson in 2017 at the HSBC Champions in ShanghaiMorikawa looked to be in a state of shock as he walked down the 17th fairway leading by as many as seven shots during the final round and suddenly finding himself two shots behind and running out of hopeRahm was surprised too He knew he was back in the game and as he walked down the 17th fairway and looked at the video board he saw his picture on the screen with a 1 next to his position not even a T1 to indicated a tieRahm said he looked over at caddie Adam Hayes and said Whats going onIt was the second such collapse by Morikawa in a little more than a year He closed out 2021 at the Hero World Challenge and had a fiveshot lead with a chance to reach No 1 in the world with a victory He shot 76 and finished fifthMasters champion Scheffler had a chance to return to No 1 this week if he finished in a twoway tie for third or better He had to settle for a 70 and tied for seventhRahm finished at 27under 265 and it was a small measure of redemption Last year he finished at 33under par at Kapalua which was a PGA Tour record that lasted only a few seconds Cameron Smith finished at 34 under to win by oneRahm now is 60 under in his last two appearances at Kapalua The victory was his ninth on the PGA Tour and 17th worldwide and assures he will be back on Maui to start 2024He won 27 million from the 15 million purse at Kapalua the first of the elevated events on the PGA Tour schedule He also gets 2537 of his Player Impact Program bonus money he finished No 5 in the PIP for 6 millionThe Spaniard now has won in each of his seven full years on the PGATom Hoge had a 64 and tied for third with Max Homa 66 Hoge headed for the airport to go to Los Angeles to watch his school TCU playing for the national championship against Georgia Hoge then will go back to Hawaii for the Sony OpenThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever