TEMPE, Ariz. – After several previous near victories Cal sophomore Collin Morikawa (65-66-69 – 200, -13) came from two shots back with four holes to go to win his first collegiate tournament Sunday at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational. The key moment came when Morikawa sank a 45-foot birdie putt on the par-four 15th hole at ASU's Karsten Golf Course to catch Chun An Yu (67-63-71 – 201) of Arizona State. Chun had held the two-stroke lead over Morikawa but the two were even after his own bogey and Morikawa's birdie.

Despite his own bogey on the difficult par-three 16th that followed, Morikawa took the lead for good when Yu double bogeyed the same hole. Both players made birdie on the par-five 17th and bogey on the par-four 18th with Morikawa knowing he had two putts to win from about 12 feet away on the final hole to wrap up the victory.

"It feels great," Morikawa said about the win. "I knew I had two putts to win. I left the first one a little shorter than I wanted to but after the final putt went in I just felt a big relief and I was really happy."

Morikawa, the nation's fourth-ranked golfer heading into the event according to Golfstat, now has 14 top-10 and 20 top-20 finishes in 22 career starts. He had had reached a playoff for the first time in his collegiate career before falling on the first extra hole in his previous event at the Southern Highlands Collegiate.

"It is a great feeling to finally close it out especially after so many close finishes," Morikawa said. "Learning how to win is very difficult and now I'll not only be able to draw from experience with solid finishes but from this win as well. I'm excited that this win happened and can't wait to contend for many more."

"I am so happy for Collin to get his first outright collegiate win," Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men's Golf Walter Chun said. "Collin has been knocking on the door since he got to Cal. Most players would get frustrated but with each near miss for Collin it made him hungrier and pushed him to work harder. Even with this win, he'll keep at it because that's who Collin is. He is a special young man."

Morikawa had started Sunday's third and final round in third-place one stroke behind co-second round leaders Yu and Blake Wagoner (67-63-72 – 202, -11) also of Arizona State, who would eventually finish tied for second and fourth, respectively. UNLV's Shintaro Ban (71-62-68 – 201, -12) also tied for second. Ban is the younger brother of former Cal player Shotaro Ban, who wrapped up his collegiate career at the 2016 NCAA Championships.

Morikawa, who played with Ban and Yu in the final group teeing off from the first hole, birdied the par-four second hole to move into a four-way tie for the lead with Yu, Ban and Wagoner, who was playing one group in front of the threesome. But Morikawa bogeyed the par-four fifth hole to drop back one shot and fell two off the pace after Yu and Wagoner both birdied the par-three seventh.

Morikawa started the back nine with a birdie on the par-five 10th to close within one of Yu and Wagoner but a birdie by Yu on the par-four 13th gave him sole possession of the lead and put him two shots ahead of Morikawa. All four players birdied the par-five 14th but the tide began to turn on the following hole when Morikawa made birdie on the par-four 15th while Yu bogeyed.

Morikawa's victory marked the first time a Cal golfer has ever won the ASU Thunderbird Invitational that was captured by current PGA TOUR pro and recent Farmers Insurance Open winner Jon Rahm of host Arizona State each of the last three seasons. The outright victory was also the first by a Cal player since April 4, 2015 when KK Limbhasut captured the Aggie Invitational. Limbhasut more recently shared a victory at the 2016 John A. Burns Intercollegiate. In addition, Morikawa's three-round total of 13-under 200 was the second-lowest of his collegiate career below only his 14-under par 199 at the 2016 Alister MacKenzie Invitational.

Tanner Hughes (71-71-72 – 214, +1) and Finigan Tilly (70-67-77 – 214, +1) tied for 37th while Sean Yu (73-71-79 – 223, +10) was tied for 63rd and Ben Doyle (75-76-77 – 228, +15) tied for 77th.

Arizona State (266-265-280 – 811, -41) rolled to a 20-stroke victory in the team standings while Cal (279-275-295 – 849, -3) finished eighth.

Cal will be out of action for nearly three weeks before finishing its regular-season April 8-9 at the Western Intercollegiate hosted by San Jose State at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz.
 
ASU THUNDERBIRD INVITATIONAL (HOSTED BY ARIZONA STATE)
TEMPE, AZ
ASU KARSTEN GOLF COURSE (PAR 71, 7013 YARDS)
 
FINAL TEAM LEADERBOARD (after 2 of 2 days/3 of 3 rounds/54 of 54 holes)
1. Arizona State (266-265-280 – 811, -41)
2. UNLV (279-273-279 – 831, -20)
3. Arizona State 'B' (280-276-278 – 834, -18)
T4. Nevada (283-275-288 – 846, -6)
T4. Washington (283-278-285 – 846, -6)
6. Iowa State (277-282-288 – 847, -5)
7. Colorado State (276-274-298 – 848, -4)
8. Cal (279-275-295 – 849, -3)
T9. Utah (281-283-288 – 852, E)
T9. Arizona (280-287-285 – 852, E)
11. Cal Poly (284-291-282 – 857, +5)
12. San Francisco (284-288-288 – 860, +8)
13. UC Irvine (288-292-285 – 865, +13)
14. Hawai'i (295-295-298 – 888, +36)
15. San Diego (301-302-288 – 891, +39)
16. UC Riverside (294-298-300 – 892, +40)
 
FINAL PLAYER LEADERBOARD – INDIVIDUAL MEDALIST (after 2 of 2 days/3 of 3 rounds/54 of 54 holes)
1. Collin Morikawa – Cal (65-66-69 – 200, -13)
 
PLAYER LEADERBOARD – CAL INDIVIDUALS (after 2 of 2 days/3 of 3 rounds/54 of 54 holes)
1. Collin Morikawa (65-66-69 – 200, -13)
T37. Tanner Hughes (71-71-72 – 214, +1)
T37. Finigan Tilly (70-67-77 – 214, +1)
T63. Sean Yu (73-71-79 – 223, +10)
T77. Ben Doyle (75-76-77 – 228, +15)