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The wild weather didn’t reach Pebble Beach on Sunday, but the drama certainly did. Let’s recap the final day on the Monterey Peninsula …

Twenty-nine minutes of agony

Twenty-nine minutes. That’s how long it took from the time Collin Morikawa reached the 18th tee to when he hit his decisive second shot into the closing par-5 18th (yes, I went back and counted). Twenty of those minutes were spent in the fairway, waiting for the green to clear. Morikawa waited nearly two and a half years to return to the winner’s circle, but no part of that was as hard as the last half hour.

It’s one of those hurdles that inevitably pop up on the way to victory. In the group ahead of Morikawa, Jacob Bridgeman made a mess of the hole, blowing his second shot into the beach on the left, attempting to hit from there and failing, only to walk 160 yards back to the fairway to play another shot.

In any situation, it’s unnerving as the body gets cold and the swing tightens up. Needing a birdie on the hole to win your first TOUR event since 2023? That’s the worst-case scenario. During what could have been an icing of epic proportions, Morikawa tried to think about anything but that, staying loose by taking practice swings with his 8-iron on the tee box. Once in the fairway, he paced back and forth, stopping at the edge of the cliff to admire the ocean view, and not visualize how he himself might be in a conundrum like Bridgeman.

“I paced all through the emotions like 10 times at least,” Morikawa said.

When it was finally time to hit, Morikawa stepped up and executed. His start line was dangerously close to where Bridgeman ended up, but it was never going there. Morikawa’s patented fade brought it back over land and safely just off the green. Morikawa got up and down from there, and the title was his.

Morikawa vowed to soak this one up for longer than he used to. A younger version might only celebrate for 29 minutes before wondering about what’s next. That version of himself didn’t appreciate how hard it all is, he said Sunday.

“I just didn't enjoy it. Like I didn't enjoy the major wins as much as I should have,” Morikawa said. “I had some glasses of wine this week, which I never do, partially because of the ams, they had some great wine. But just relax a little bit. It's a very stressful life and it's hard to step back and say, 'Man, how grateful we are to do this.'”

Playing through

• 👶 The wins keep coming for the Morikawas. Standing on the 18th green celebrating victory, Morikawa announced he and his wife, Kat, are expecting their first child.
• 🚨 The putter Collin Morikawa used to win wasn’t in the bag two weeks ago. Actually, it’s still not even his. “That's kind of how I stole it,” Morikawa told me afterward. Here’s how he conquered Pebble Beach with a "stolen" putter.
• 💸 Morikawa earned $3.6 million with the victory. How much did everyone else make?
• 😤 Rory McIlroy was kicking himself for a few small mistakes that had big implications. Here's why he’s bullish about his game despite all the big numbers.

Scheffler’s incredible run

Congratulations to the following golfers: Collin Morikawa, Sepp Straka, Min Woo Lee, Chris Gotterup, Hideki Matsuyama, Tommy Fleetwood, Russell Henley, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Rose and J.J. Spaun.

If you didn’t hear your name called, you’re not one of the 10 golfers who has beaten Scottie Scheffler in a stroke-play tournament since mid-July. If you did hear your name, good job! You have! But none of you has done it more than once.

Thus is the state of play on TOUR right now, where even when Scheffler spots the field a poor round to start (as he did with an even-par first round), only a few manage to outlast him for 72 holes. His latest display reinforced his greatness. Scheffler shot a final-round 63, racing up the leaderboard and briefly sitting as the favorite to win the tournament. That didn’t hold. He ran out of holes and Morikawa jumped past him, but it was the best golf we saw all weekend.

A full recap of that marvelous round is here. Spoiler: It featured three eagles, including one of the shots of the year on the 18th that set up the last of them. It was incredibly impressive, and we in the media are running out of ways to describe him. So I’ll let Morikawa do it this time:

“I was very aware of Scottie Scheffler's score today. I mean, first off, what a player. I've known him for a long time, and it's cool to kind of go head-to-head against him and Sam (Burns),” Morikawa said.

Parting shots

• 🧠 Remember Min Woo Lee’s weekend. It could be the latest sign of his progression. He won last year, but he failed to play well in the biggest events. He was without a top 20 in Signature Events in his career. He got that and then some this week.
• 🇸🇪 Ludvig Åberg has struggled to start the year, partly due to a nagging illness. He shot 14 under over his last three rounds after a tough start. That’s good momentum heading into his title defense.
• 🇯🇵 Driver remains an issue for Hideki Matsuyama. The club cost him the WM Phoenix Open, and it hindered him again this week. He ranked 62nd in driving. He still finished in a tie for eighth.
• 2️⃣5️⃣ Collin Morikawa and Sepp Straka tied for the most birdies with 27. Who was third? Rory McIlroy with 25. If he can quit the big numbers, expect bigger and better very quickly for McIlroy

That's it for the first week of the Signature Scroll! Hopefully, you enjoyed reading the newsletter as much as I enjoyed putting it together. I'll be back Thursday at The Riviera Country Club.