If he keeps putting the way he has for the past three days at Kapalua, Collin Morikawa will be virtually impossible to catch on Sunday at the Tournament of Champions.
Morikawa, who leads the field in putting, hasn’t missed any crucial putts, including a couple of lengthy par saves on Saturday. He finished off his round with a 15-footer for birdie at the 18th for an eight-under par 65 and a 24-under par total through three rounds.
He’s six clear of Matt Fitzpatrick (66), J.J. Spaun (69) and Scottie Scheffler (69). Scheffler, who needs a tie for third or better to move back to No. 1, lost out on his chance to be in the final pairing with Morikawa after failing to birdie the 18th. Fitzpatrick will be in the final pairing with Collin while Scheffler and Spaun will go after next-to-last.
Jon Rahm’s 67 on moving day took him to 17-under. He’s tied with Tom Kim, who shot 68.
Biggest move on Saturday came from Max Homa. Homa fashioned a 10-under par 63, best round of the week and got himself to 16-under with Sungjae Im (65).
Morikawa has yet to make a bogey over 54 holes on the Plantation Course and his off-season work on his short game is showing in a big way.
“It’s been pretty simple today. Kind of over the past three days, 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.”
