Collin Morikawa of La Canada Flintridge posted a bogey-free 8-under-par 62 in the final round to win the rain-shortened 63rd Sunnehanna Amateur by three strokes over KK Limbhasut of Thailand and Garrett Rank of Canada at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, Pa.
Morikawa, a sophomore at Cal, finished at 67-70-62–199, 11-under, while Limbhasut, his Golden Bear teammate, wound up at 67-69-66–202 and Rank came in at 69-67-66–202.
“This entire week was spectacular,” said Morikawa, who carded four birdies on each nine in the final round. “Minimizing my mistakes was the biggest part in leading me to this win. Other than the second round when I had a few mental mistakes, the rest of the golf was very patient and steady.”
Said retiring Cal Coach Steve Desimone: “It takes a very special player to shoot 62 any time, but it takes an extra special player to do that in the final round. That’s what great players do. They score in the final round. That’s how you win tournaments.”
Will Grimmer of Cincinnati totaled 65-68-71–204 to tie for fourth with Dylan Meyer of Evansville, Ill., who shot 71-68-65–204, while Matthew Gilcrest of Southlake, Texas, finished at 67-70-68–205 to tie for sixth with Patrick Martin of Birmingham, Ala., who wound up at 68-66-71–205.
Jacob Solomon of Dublin, the 2015 California Boys High School champion who plays at Auburn, totaled 71-69-70–210 and finished in a tie for 18th that included Rico Hoey of Rancho Cucamonga and USC, who wound up at 72-71-67–210.
Trevor Clayton of Clovis and Fresno State tied for 27th at 68-71-72–211, and Sean Crocker of Westlake Village and USC, coming off his victory in the Monroe Invitational, tied for 35th at 69-72-71–212.
Past winners of the Sunnehanna Amateur include Ben Crenshaw, John Cook, Brad Faxon, Allen Doyle, Billy Andrade, Scott Verplank, Bobby Clampett, Lucas Glover, Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson, Jay Sigel, Jodie Mudd, Mark Hayes, Howard Twitty, Tommy Aaron and Leonard Thompson.
