Las Vegan Morikawa has home-course edge heading into PGA

Golf’s strangest season continues this week with the year’s first major, but don’t expect the tension and drama normally found at the PGA Championship.

As has been the case for two months since golf resumed, there will be no fans on the course when players tee it up at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. And that should open the door for many players to contend.

Major championships are all about dealing with the pressure of the moment, and a big part of that is handling the large and boisterous galleries. Without them, this could look and feel like any other tournament.

Course knowledge could be an important factor this week, and the edge there just might go to one of the youngest and hottest players on Tour: Las Vegas resident Collin Morikawa.

A little over a year ago, the 23-year-old was wrapping up his college career at Cal, just a trip across the Bay Bridge from this week’s venue.

The PGA Tour has only played at the course three times, all with limited fields: a World Golf Championship in 2005, the Presidents Cup in 2009 and the Match Play Championship in 2015.

“We probably played there 10 or 12 times while I was in college,” Morikawa said of Harding Park. So his recent knowledge of the course will be as strong as anybody’s in the field.

Morikawa admits he’s never seen Harding Park in the shape it will be this week, with greens running at top speed and rough at penalizing length. But he does understand how to manage his way around the course.

And with a victory at Muirfield Village in July, a playoff loss at Colonial in June and a world ranking of No. 12, there’s arguably been nobody hotter since the restart.

If it’s not Morikawa’s week, here are a few other players to consider — keeping in mind the PGA Championship regularly brings us champions as obscure as Shaun Micheel, Rich Beem and Y.E. Yang.

Brooks Koepka is looking to three-peat, having won in 2018 at Bellerive and 2019 at Bethpage Black. He’s played two months of mediocre golf until last week’s tie for second in Memphis. But big events bring out his best, with four of his seven PGA Tour wins coming in majors.

Rory McIlroy, like Koepka, also hasn’t played particularly well since the restart. But there isn’t a more talented all-around player in golf. He has four majors to his credit and did win the 2015 match-play event at Harding Park.

Justin Thomas is this season’s only three-time winner. He won last week in Memphis and regained the No. 1 spot in the world rankings. But winning back-to-back weeks is a difficult proposition.

Phil Mickelson, 50, could become the oldest winner of a major, but victories are few and far between in recent years. Still, he tied for second last week and has won 14 times in California during his career.

Tiger Woods must always be considered, but it would be a miracle this week. He’s 44 with a body that rarely cooperates for four rounds these days. He only played three events since January. And if anybody will be missing the energy of the crowds, it’s Woods.

However it unfolds, it’s just nice to actually have a major championship to watch.

Chip Shots

— Kenny Ebalo cruised to his second Nevada State Mid-Amateur title Sunday at Rio Secco Golf Club in Henderson. Ebalo shot rounds of 72-71-70 to finish at 3-under 213, good for a seven-stroke victory over Craig Erickson. Eric Hansen and Todd Roberts tied for third. Ebalo, who also won the title in 2014, plays out of Southern Highlands GC.

— Jason Buckholz needed 20 holes to defeat Trevor Coss in the championship match at the Nevada State Net Amateur on Sunday at Rio Secco. Buckholz, who plays out of Wolf Run GC, was the last player to qualify for the eight-player match play bracket after 36 holes of stroke play on Friday and Saturday.

— Las Vegas resident Danielle Kang won the LPGA’s first tournament back from the Covid-19 break, taking the title at the Drive On Championship. The win vaulted her to No. 2 in the world rankings behind Jin Young Ko and gives her victories in four consecutive seasons.

Greg Robertson is a freelance reporter who covers golf for the Review-Journal. He can be reached at robertsongt@gmail.com