Jon Rahm took full advantage of Colin Morikawa’s meltdown on the final day to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Plantation Course in Maui, Hawaii.
Leading by as many as 7-strokes on the final day, the American let his lead slip in unceremonious fashion to lose to the Spaniard who turned the deficit into a two-stroke win.
The wild swing came courtesy of 4 holes as Rahm ran off three straight birdies and an eagle while Morikawa, playing two groups behind him, had three straight bogeys.
His first, came on the 14th when he was still three strokes ahead. On the par-5 15th he took his second and then on the 16th another sub-par effort earned him a third straight bogey.
He wound up tying a PGA Tour record for losing the largest 54-hole lead at six shots. Eight other players have done that, most recently Scottie Scheffler at the Tour Championship last year.
Winning the Tournament of Champions comes as a redemption for Jon Rahm who finished second to, now LIV’s Cameron Smith, last year. The Spaniard, who finished at 27-under 265, managed a record finish of 33-under par at Kapalua last time which was a PGA Tour record that lasted only a few seconds as Smith finished at 34 under to win by one.
Rahm has now won in each of his seven full years on the PGA circuit.
He also won $2.7 million from the $15 million purse at Kapalua, the first of the “elevated” events on the PGA Tour schedule.
Tom Hoge tied for third with Max Homa with J. J. Spaun and Tom Kim following the pair.
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler had a chance to return to No. 1 this week but had to settle for a 70 and tied for seventh.
