Collin Morikawa had the last laugh when fans thought he had missed an important putt at the Presidents Cup. The US star was joking around and teased fans by missing the hole after finishing his round alongside Scottie Scheffler.
Morikawa enjoyed a positive final day and overshadowed world No. 1 Scheffler. He potted a sensational putt from 39 yards for a birdie.
However, Morikawa and Scheffler could only settle for a tie against the international team of Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith.
Morikawa remained in high spirits, though, and successfully trolled the crowd with an inconsequential putt. He placed the ball on the green around five yards from the hole, with the crowd gearing up for what should have been an easy effort.
But the 27-year-old completely missed the cup. Some fans positioned in the crowd behind him initially believed that the putt was an important one. They sarcastically cheered but soon realised Morikawa was simply joking around.
The golfer turned to the crowd and laughed before blowing them a kiss. Scheffler and the caddies also found the incident funny as they shook hands and headed off the green.
Morikawa continued to laugh at the crowd as he walked away and waved his arms. “Hey, hey, that didn’t count everybody,” said the Sky Sports commentator.
It comes after Morikawa mocked opponent Min Woo Lee after defeating him in the opening fourballs. Lee’s nickname is The Chef and his fans chant “let him cook” when he swings his club.
After Morikawa and Sahith Theegala saw off Lee and Scott, he took to Instagram to share six photos of the event. His caption read: “Chef cooked. We ate.”
The Presidents Cup has already had plenty of needle between the participants. Tensions nearly boiled over between Scheffler and Tom Kim on Thursday. After the South Korean player sunk a birdie, he jubilantly celebrated to the crowd. Scheffler responded by hitting a similar shot before turning to Kim and shouting: “What was that, huh?”
Kim and team-mate Sungjae Im then moved on to the next tee as Scheffler was lining up a birdie on the previous hole, a move that is seen as bad etiquette. Sky Sports commentator Paul McGinley was unimpressed, saying: “Wow, that is bordering on bad behaviour. That is disrespectful in my opinion.
“I know it’s competitive out there, but it shows you an underlying edge here that it’s not all fun and games.”
