Collin Morikawa must be wondering how exactly he has not won the Arnold Palmer Invitational after holding a substantial lead well into Sunday’s final round at Bay Hill.
It was further disappointment for the player who surely played the best golf without winning on the PGA Tour in 2024. Collin Morikawa went into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a one-shot lead, and appeared to be doing enough as many of his potential challengers fell away.
The two-time major champion was one under par for the day at the turn. But two bogeys on the back nine opened the door for Russell Henley to secure the biggest win of his career so far.
Morikawa was known at the start of his career for being arguably as good an iron player as you will find anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, he lost more than a shot to the field during Sunday’s round with his approach play, according to the PGA Tour website.
The moment which cost Collin Morikawa the Arnold Palmer Invitational
But there was one mistake with the driver which perhaps proved to be the defining moment of the weekend. Morikawa missed the fairway on the 16th tee, essentially denying him the chance to go for the green in two.
And speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Ryan Lavner suggested that that failure to get to grips with the 16th hole across the week really came back to haunt Morikawa.
“Collin Morikawa was first this week from a strokes gained tee to green perspective. He didn’t have his best day with his irons on Sunday, hit just 11 greens and didn’t hole many putts. But he was still number one in that category. I think Collin Morikawa, though he did not necessary do anything wrong, I think he’s certainly going to rue the tee shot on the par three 14th, missed that short right, was unable to get that up and down. That sort of let Henley in the door a bit,” he said.
“I still go back to the tee shot on 16. For the fourth consecutive day, Collin Morikawa hit his tee shot in the right fairway bunker. And even from 185 yards, it looked like the ball was sitting down just a little bit, was unable to go for the green in two, hit a pedestrian wedge shot to about 20, 25 feet, was unable to make birdie on what was the easiest hole on the golf course. The way Collin Morikawa had hit his iron shots to that point in the tournament, you would have thought if he has 185 yards from the middle of the fairway, he’s likely to get that inside 30 feet, and it is, at worst, a two-putt birdie. Instead, fourth straight day in the bunker, unable to get it up and down from there for birdie. That was the moment of the tournament. Clearly, that tee shot does not fit his eye. He had continued to struggle with it all week long, actually bit him on Sunday.”
Collin Morikawa is doing everything right on the PGA Tour in 2025
Morikawa has picked up where he left off in 2024 by playing about as well as he could possibly do without getting across the line.
He finished second to Hideki Matsuyama at The Sentry in January, while he finished inside the top 20 at both of his previous two starts ahead of Bay Hill.
He is second on the PGA Tour for total strokes gained, while he is also in that spot for strokes gained to tee to green.
With that, it is hard to feel the current wait for a win will not be over soon enough. But clearly, it must be a psychological blow to come so close before just falling short once again.
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