AUGUSTA, Ga. — There is a dramatic scenario that awaits in Sunday’s Masters final round at Augusta National, and it involves Collin Morikawa.
Morikawa enters the day one shot behind leader Scottie Scheffler, and a Masters victory Sunday would give him three of the four legs of a career Grand Slam.
A win by Morikawa, who has won the 2020 British Open and 2021 PGA Championship, would send him to the U.S. Open in June at Pinehurst with a chance to become only the sixth player in history to win all four majors.
“It always crosses your mind,” Morikawa conceded of thinking about a Grand Slam. “If it doesn’t cross your mind, I don’t know what the hell your mind is thinking about. You’re purposely trying to block it out. For me, I have to allow that to come.’’
To do that, he’ll have to overcome Scheffler, who’s on one of the all-time heaters.
“Yeah, look, Scottie is the No. 1 player in the world for a reason, and what he’s done over the past few years is incredible,” Morikawa said. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t scare me. I still know that at my best and at what I truly believe I can do.
“If you told me at the beginning of the week I’d be one back heading into Sunday, I would have taken that any time. It all comes together tomorrow, hopefully. But it’s going to be a grind, and I’m looking forward to that.
“Thankfully, I’ve already been able to win two [majors], so I can kind of go back on those experiences and just take that experience into tomorrow. It doesn’t mean tomorrow is going to be a perfect day.
“Doesn’t mean tomorrow is going to go exactly as I planned. But I know how to prep, at least, leading up tomorrow. I think I’ve got a pretty good plan, so hopefully we can execute it tomorrow.’’
No one had a wilder day of emotional swings than Bryson DeChambeau, who had a share of the lead through 36 holes at 6-under and dropped to 2-under on the back nine after bogeys on 11, 12 and 16 and a double on the par-5 15th.
But he ended his day by holing out for birdie on the 18th hole from 80 yards to stay within four shots of the lead entering Sunday.
“I had a great break on 18,’’ he said. “I’ll take that any day of the week.’’
DeChambeau, who took the early lead in the tournament with a 7-under 65 on Thursday, said, “It’s very difficult to chase, but I’m going to take what I can on this golf course where I can, and I’ve got to make some putts. If I can make some putts tomorrow, I think I can have a good opportunity.’’
