When Scottie Scheffler got off to a slow start for a second week running at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, many of us assumed that there was little chance of another comeback from the world number one.
Scottie Scheffler opened with a 72 at Pebble Beach on Thursday. He went into Sunday eight shots off the lead and with a host of notable names sat between him and top spot on one of the game’s most iconic venues.
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Ultimately, Collin Morikawa was able to get across the line for his first PGA Tour victory since 2023. But Scheffler gave the field a good scare.
The 29-year-old made a stunning eagle on the 72nd hole to take the clubhouse lead on 20 under par. While there were still opportunities for the likes of Morikawa and Min Woo Lee to make birdies, Scheffler’s presence ramped the pressure up significantly.
Collin Morikawa says how worried he was about Scottie Scheffler on Sunday at Pebble Beach
Lee went on to set the new benchmark on 21 under par. That meant Morikawa had to make a four up the last to avoid a playoff with the Australian.
He did indeed make that birdie. And after his victory, he was asked about how much attention he was paying to the leaderboards as the finishing line edged into view.
“Yeah. I was very aware of Scottie Scheffler’s score today. I mean, first off, what a player. I’ve known him for a long time and it’s cool to kind of go head to head against him and Sam,” he said.
“I practice a lot with Min Woo. I love looking at leaderboards, I want to know where I am. Like I said, when I’m playing out there, I wasn’t stepping on a tee saying, man, I’ve got to make birdie, or man, I’ve got to save par. I just knew where I was. I had to keep going because these guys weren’t going to let up. 18 is very birdieable with the way the wind was going. 14, 15, even 16, a lot of birdie holes coming in, even 13 even downwind.
“I think from the very start I was looking at leaderboards. I always have, I always will continue to do that. But yeah, I mean, I’d say after the birdie on 15 I knew that it wasn’t going to be enough. Like I had to keep going, keep making the birdies because you never know. He finished birdie – birdie, birdie eagle, right? And for a moment you thought the guy was out of the tournament. You can never let those things go by. I was really, really focused on myself. I just haven’t been able to get in that head state in a long time.”
How Collin Morikawa coped with the wait on 18 at Pebble Beach
Morikawa would have been forgiven for thinking that the golfing gods were doing all they could to stop him winning.
After hitting a brilliant tee shot up the last, Morikawa had to wait around 20 minutes to take on the second shot due to the problems Jacob Bridgeman was having up ahead.
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Fortunately, that wait did not put the two-time major champion off. And he went on to speak about the drama of the last hole.
“The only concern was how long the wait was going to be. A lot of pacing for me. Pacing for me just kept me loose, just kept me moving because, shoot, it wasn’t warm by any means, right? So you stand there for a couple minutes, who knows what’s going to get stiff, what’s going to feel different,” he said.
“I tried to take out my eight iron just, swing a bunch of swings. But when I stood on that tee, it was one shot, this is what you’re going to hit and we’ll figure out after.”
Morikawa can take so much confidence from his performance. He dealt with the pressure superbly when it would have been easy to struggle as the conditions threatened to cause problems and Scottie Scheffler threatened to snatch the title from everyone’s grasp.
