In which poor Colin Morikama gets well and truly Rhamed from behind...
Well that was unexpected.
Not the fact that Jon Rham shot a final round 63. When he gets on a roll he's capable of going very low, especially at a track set up like The Plantation Course at Kapalua, Hawaii.
He's a total of 60 under par on this course for 8 rounds of tournament golf!
No, the surprise was Colin Morikawa's derailing on the back nine. It was a shock because he'd been playing imperious golf.
With Colin holding a six shot advantage over Rham after their respective outward nines, a Morikawa win seemed assured. After all he'd not registered a single bogey on his card for the first 67 holes of the tournament.
But then in the closing stretch he rattled off three in a row. At the 14th, 15th and 16th holes.
Rham, with four birdies and an eagle, played the back nine in six under par. Colin, despite a birdie at the last, was two over for the inward nine.
An eight shot swing resulting in the Spaniard winning by two.
It's going to be a tough one from which to bounce back. But Morikawa will. He's a class act.
Right now though he must be smarting a bit. He's having to get his head around having stumbled so badly, while so far in front, so close to the finish line.
It brings to mind Devon Loch's belly flop while leading by several lengths in the 1956 Grand National.
As my good friend Dazzler would say:
Colin has managed to come second in a one horse race.
It will be interesting to see how they go when the two of them next play together this season.
And who knows? What chance they get drawn against each other at the Ryder Cup...
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