Defending PGA Champion Collin Morikawa discusses what it was like to play Kiawah with the pressure of trying to retain the Wanamaker Trophy.

Defending champion Collin Morikawa shot 68 Sunday at the 103rd PGA Championship to finish at 1-under 287. In the stroke-play era of the PGA Championship (1958-on), only two players have been able to successfully defend a title: Tiger Woods (1999-2000, 2006-2007) and Brooks Koepka (2018, 2019).

“You’ve got a little extra weight on your back just being the defending champion,” Morikawa said. “People want to take the trophy from you. Someone is going to take that away come later today, but I enjoy it. I enjoy being in that position. You want to be in those positions because it shows that you’ve succeeded, you’ve played well the past year somewhere, at that course or whether it’s at a different course.

At age 24, would Morikawa like another go at a PGA Championship on Kiawah’s Ocean Course?

“I know they’ve got a bunch of courses already lined up for the future in the next handful of years, but I enjoyed it,” he said. “I see myself playing well out here, and I don’t see that changing in 10 years or so.”

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