KAPALUA, Maui >> Collin Morikawa is looking a lot more like the golfer who won two majors in his first eight tries instead of the one who didn’t win a single event in 2022.
Morikawa tripled his lead over the rest of the field to six shots after shooting an 8-under 65 to move to 24 under heading into today’s final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions at The Plantation Course.
The tournament leader from the very start, Morikawa is just the third golfer in 25 tournaments at Kapalua to play the first three rounds without a bogey.
“It’s been pretty simple today. Kind of over the past three days is where I’ve been looking is kind of where the ball’s been going,” Morikawa said. “I kind of know what I’m doing right, and when I hit a bad shot, kind of what the mistake was. That’s the biggest thing.”
That was never more evident than on 18, when Morikawa stepped to the tee leading three golfers by five shots, including his playing partner on Saturday, world No. 2 Scottie Scheffler.
He had birdied three of his previous four holes and was just off the green in two on the par-5 closing hole when he blasted a putt 15 feet past.
A rarity over three rounds, Morikawa made up for the mistake by calmly dropping the remaining putt for birdie to get to 24 under.
A six-shot lead on a course like Kapalua will likely require anyone coming from behind to post a number in the low 60s.
Only Geoff Ogilvy in 2009 has led by as many shots entering a final round at Kapalua. He won by the same number after shooting a final-round 68.
“I don’t care about anything else. I want to win,” said Morikawa, whose last victory on Tour was the 2021 Open Championship. “I know it’s going to take a lot. There’s going to be a lot of guys out there that are going to be firing at pins, making a lot of birdies early on. So that’s just for me to just kind of do what I’ve doing, staying patient, giving myself opportunities and let ’em fall.”
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Scheffler, who watched Morikawa make the putt before lining up a 6-footer for birdie on 18, missed to finish in a tie with J.J. Spaun and Matt Fitzpatrick at 18 under after shooting 69.
The defending Masters champion, who can pass Rory McIlroy for first place in the World Golf Ranking with a tie for third with one other player or better, immediately went to the putting green after the round.
He missed seven greens on Saturday after going 35-for-36 in greens in regulations over the first two rounds.
Morikawa, who has won five times on tour, including the 2020 PGA Championship, has at least a share of the lead for the third time in his career.
He won the 3m Open in 2019 and came in second at the 2021 WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession.
“Tomorrow it’s not about learning. I’m going to put kind of everything I’ve been through and everything I’ve done in the past and just kind of use it to my advantage hopefully and just start hole 1 and go strong for 18,” Morikawa said. “It’s a long day out there. It’s a lot of golf. Just kind of go on past experiences to get me through tomorrow.”
Low scores were still there for golfers to card. Max Homa carded 10 birdies without a bogey to shoot a 63 and jump 20 spots into a tie for seventh place.
Billy Horschel, who was the only player over par after a first-round, 3-over 76, shot 64.
Sungjae Im shot an 8-under 65 to move within eight shots of the lead, while Matthew Fitzpatrick, the reigning U.S. Open champion, played his way into the final group with Morikawa after shooting 66 to get to 18 under.
“Just really, really steady,” Fitzpatrick said. “Really, really happy with today’s round. Just felt very, very stress-free. I think my changes to my irons have been a positive one. We kind of put weights in the grip to make them a little bit more fade based, which felt a little bit more comfortable out there.”
Fitzpatrick birdied five of his last seven holes.
Spaun, who entered the day tied for second and ended it in the same position after shooting 69, is looking for his second Tour win.
Hideki Matsuyama, who will make the short hop over to Oahu next week to defend his Sony Open title, ended his round with six consecutive birdies to shoot 65 and move into a tie for ninth with four golfers at 15 under.
