Sepp Straka pays ultimate tribute to Collin Morikawa after Pebble Beach thriller

Straka in awe of Morikawa’s ball striking as Pebble Beach title sealed in style.

16 Feb 2026

Sepp Straka paid Collin Morikawa the ultimate compliment after watching him close out victory in the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Morikawa birdied the par-5 18th at famed Pebble Beach Golf Links to secure a one-shot win over Straka and Min Woo Lee, finishing on a joint tournament-record 22-under-par.

The victory marked Morikawa’s seventh PGA Tour title and his first in nearly two and a half years. It also propelled him to third in the FedEx Cup standings and lifted him from 19th to fifth in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).

Straka, who eagled the 18th to claim a share of second place alongside Lee, had a front-row seat to Morikawa’s closing masterclass after being paired with him in the final group.

Afterwards, the Austrian was full of praise for Morikawa’s ball striking, particularly down the stretch.

"His iron play down the stretch really all day was great, especially the iron shot on 16 was unbelievable," said Straka, reflecting on Morikawa's clutch birdies on 15, 16 and 18.

"He kind of left himself pretty far back and he hit a 6-iron in there tight and made a birdie. The one on 18 was a hard enough shot, but he likes to cut it so it makes it even harder with that wind blowing 25, 30 off your left. Yeah, that is a pretty special shot to put it away there."

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Morikawa’s approach play proved decisive all week. He led the field in strokes gained tee-to-green (9.681) and strokes gained total (12.551) across the four rounds, while ranking second in greens in regulation at an impressive 83%.

Straka believes Morikawa’s iron play stands among the very best of his era.

He concluded: "Collin is one of the best iron players of our generation probably. His generation. I'm a little older than him. We've been out here about the same time. Yeah, it's very impressive to watch him hit iron shots."

The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was the first Signature Event of the 2026 PGA Tour season, featuring a $20 million purse, with Morikawa collecting $3.6 million for the win.

The PGA Tour now heads to the Genesis Invitational at Riviera — a venue particularly close to Morikawa’s heart — where the newly crowned Pebble Beach champion will look to build on his momentum.