Jay Busbee, Yahoo! Sports: “The 16th hole at TPC Harding Park turns smoothly to the right, a short par 4 made more difficult by swirling Pacific cross winds and giant Monterey cypress trees lining the fairway. On Sunday, the pin was located 294 meters from the tee, hidden behind a bunker on the side of the green. It will never go down as one of the great holes in golf. But it is already the most significant in the career of Collin Morikawa, the new great golf champion. At around 5:15 local time on Sunday afternoon, Morikawa hit the tee at 16. He was on par with Paul Casey, a player 20 years his senior, and one shot in front of an entire truck loaded with challengers. Morikawa’s caddy, JJ Jackovic, asked him what he wanted to do. There was a chance to hit the iron, a safe game that would keep Morikawa on the safe path. But there was another option. Go big, then come home with a trophy. Morikawa grabbed his driver and prepared for a left to right shot. The wind came from his left and unleashed an impeccable ride. It only took one kick to roll forward onto the green, and the ball did exactly that … stopping just seven feet from the cup. “
Kyle Terada, Golfweek: “Tiger Woods emerged from the fog – literally and figuratively – with his lowest score of the week on Sunday in the final round of the 102nd game of the PGA championship. Now think the bright days are ahead. Starting his last 18 years at TPC Harding Park under a thick marine layer that obscured objects 200 meters away, Woods was wrapped in a bit of awe from the monotonous game in the second and third rounds. But there was a pop in his pitch from the first tee on and the 15-time main winner put in an upbeat performance with a 67 under par 3 and finished with rounds of 68-72-72-67 to finish at 1 under for the tournament, only his second in six months. Woods was much sharper with all aspects of his game, especially his putting, which had been boring all week as he struggled with the speed of the greens. Woods only needed 25 putts in the last round, six fewer than the 31 he took in both the second and third rounds. “
