Collin Morikawa Wins the British Open in His First Appearance

SANDWICH, England — Louis Oosthuizen had certainly paid his dues since winning the British Open in 2010, finishing as runner-up on six occasions at major championships.

Jordan Spieth had paid a few, too, reviving his fading game after two years of struggle.

But Collin Morikawa is a young man in a hurry, and on Sunday, he again proved that experience was overrated, winning the British Open on his first attempt by outplaying Oosthuizen in the final pairing and holding off Spieth on the closing holes.

“You have to embrace it,” Morikawa, a 24-year-old Californian, said. “You have to be excited about these opportunities, and that’s how I looked at it today, especially coming down the stretch.”

Much easier said than done, but Morikawa looked focused yet not too tightly wound from the start: chuckling with his caddie, J.J. Jakovac, as they walked up the first fairway and then holding remarkably firm as the pressure continued to rise on another sun-drenched afternoon at the Royal St. George’s Golf Club.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/18/sports/golf/british-open-collin-morikawa.html