The first Sunday of the PGA Tour’s new normal was notable more for the circumstances attached to an individual who didn’t win than Daniel Berger, whose return from serious injury was endorsed by a third title at this level. Quirkily, all three have arrived in June.
Collin Morikawa, who turned professional last summer and hasn’t missed a cut since, was in pursuit of the biggest win of his career. A horrible, tetchy missed putt from 4ft in a play-off handed Berger the Charles Schwab Challenge. High praise should be afforded to Berger, for whom wrist trouble threatened to derail his career, but one can only hope this disappointment doesn’t undermine Morikawa’s stunning rise. His was a painful moment.
“I had full control,” said Morikawa of his situation. “It’s going to be a little bittersweet. I know I’m going to have to look back at it before next week and see all the positives, but I’m also going to have to nit-pick what I did wrong. This one bites a little harder.”
Berger was visibly emotional as victory was sealed. For a pre-injury spell, he was spoken in the same context of some of the finest players in the game. He had slipped to outside of the world’s top 150 by the end of 2019, having been 19th just over two years earlier.
“I didn’t want to win it like that, but sometimes that’s just the way golf works,” Berger said. “There was so many times today where I could have given it up or let the pressure get to me, but I hung in there and I played practically some of the best golf I’ve played the last six years.”
Berger and Morikawa’s 15 under par ensured extra holes, where only one was required. Morikawa will feel he should have avoided overtime, on account of a birdie chance on the final hole of regulation play which he passed up. He later admitted a misread. “I should have brought my caddie in to look at it,” Morikawa said.
The bigger picture, as is wholly significant, was of a golf event which appeared to pass without any serious problems after more than three months of coronavirus-induced stoppage. No spectators in Fort Worth detracted from the spectacle but to all intents and purposes golf proved itself as a sport which can continue as the world manages a pandemic exit strategy.
Xander Schauffele was his own remarkable moment away from making the play-off of the three way variety. Having holed length putts at the 15th and 16th, Schauffele watched a tap-in spin out of the hole at the 71st hole. Unable to repair the damage of that bogey at the last, Schauffele had to make do with a tie for third with Justin Rose, Bryson DeChambeau and Jason Kokrak.
As Berger celebrated, Rory McIlroy endured a rare Sunday to forget. The world No1’s streak of finishes of fifth place or better ended at seven. Most surprising was the manner in which McIlroy’s day four unravelled. He was five over after seven and played the front nine in 41. A 74 ultimately left him in a share of 32nd. Nick Faldo, part of the live broadcasting team, offered cutting analysis of McIlroy. “Rory doesn’t have a Plan B some days,” said the six-time major winner. McIlroy will inevitably be asked to respond to that comment almost immediately; he is in the field as the PGA Tour returns to South Carolina from Thursday. “On that front nine I just got into a rut and played a bad run of holes,” McIlroy said. “Obviously that put me out of the tournament.”
Jordan Spieth’s reverse ferret wasn’t nearly as spectacular. Spieth was firmly in position to win for the first time since the Open Championship of 2017 but instead played his last five holes in two over for a 71. Spieth finished four shy of Berger and Morikawa.
“I knew coming in I didn’t have all the tools,” Spieth admitted. “I didn’t have all my weapons yet. But I certainly gained more this week, gained a lot of confidence.”
